Rachel Nuwer, journalism student from New York University, recently wrote an article with commentary from Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute. The article is published on one of the university’s student-run webzines, Scienceline.org. The article discusses the pros and cons of helminthic therapy, which is a form of treatment based on the hygiene hypothesis – modern society’s obsession with cleanliness is depriving the body of its natural development of immune defenses. This therapy entails deliberately infesting the gut with parasites like hookworms and whipworms to treat disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and allergies. Dr. Hotez states that use of such therapy is ineffective, and that “whipworm infection is actually the leading global cause of inflammatory bowel disease.”

Visit the Scienceline website to read the full article.