Study Reveals British History's Most Worm-Infested People, And It's Not Who You Think

Forget the dog. The smallest animal that has been loyal to humans throughout history has been the quiet freeloader, the intestinal worm.

It has not always been so easy for our parasites. Our relationship with gut helminths has varied throughout the ages according to a team of British archaeologists.

Determining exactly when and why worm infections fluctuated across time could tell us a lot about managing the problem today, a problem that continues to affect the health of nearly a quarter of the world's population.

There is a lot of evidence detailing the kinds of parasites that were found in our guts. Blood-sucking worms of many different kinds and creeds have been traced in the mess left behind in chamber pots because of their hardy and easily identifiable eggs.

The problem is conveyed on a general population level, but it doesn't tell us much about the prevalence of individuals who harbor them.

The remains of 464 humans buried at 17 sites around the UK, all dating from prehistoric to industrial periods, were analyzed by the researchers behind this recent investigation.

In more than a quarter of the bodies, they found signs of the roundworm Ascaris and Trichuris, as well as Taenia and Diphyllobothrium la.

The roundworm, Ascaris, was the most common wriggler. The growth and development of young children is at risk because of the common form of infections that this parasites is a common form of.

During the Roman occupation, it was a great time to be a roundworm. More than one in five Romans would have carried a gut full of Ascaris worms, despite the fact that they had a reputation for Sanitation and love of a good social chat while defecating.

In Industrial London, the percentages of infections were similar to those in Anglo-Saxon and High Medieval Ipswich.

The infections of whipworms and roundworms peaked in late medieval times, and the Roman and High Medieval periods were both glory days for them.

We can only speculate as to why the infestations hit highs and then dropped. Changes in how waste was managed could have played a role.

The revolution in Sanitation that took place in the 18th and 19th centuries seemed to benefit many in the UK. The number of infections varied from place to place, suggesting that some measures were having an effect on the movement of parasites.

Flatworms gave insight into the habits of populations. Found together in four out of six sites, freshwater fish, pigs, and cattle provide clues to the local diet.

The fact that tapeworm eggs were only detected in adults was interesting, as it has been observed before and attributed to long-lived infections built up over time.

Large-scale anthelmintic medication distribution is central to the fight against worm infections. It relies on repeated doses to be effective.

By linking cultural and technological differences with the prevalence of infections, future researchers could identify the best ways of managing parasites without leaning heavily on drug-based therapies.

The research was published in a journal.