Poverty, open sewers and parasites: ‘America’s dirty shame’
“Concerned by the health implications, Flowers asked scientists at the National School of Tropical Medicine in Houston, Texas, to conduct experiments in the area. The research will soon be submitted to the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. ‘They tested the soil and water, and took blood and faecal samples. They found at least five tropical parasites,’ she says. The poor living conditions are exacerbated by a climate that combines increasingly high temperatures with heavy rainfall, creating a good environment for parasites to breed. ‘It is the perfect intersection of poverty and climate change,’ she adds.”