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Poverty Causes Many People To Be At Increased Risk

Los Angeles- Many of the diseases that do not typically affect most people are common among the poor people in America because they do not have the means to avoid or prevent them.

In a report being published in the Public Library Of Science, in the PloS Neglected Tropical Disease Journal section, scientists report that many parasitic, bacterial and viral infections target the poor and those in poverty conditions.

The reasons appear to be several, including that the sanitary conditions among people living in squalor and poverty are very bad, and that people without money or means often cannot get effective medical help soon enough to prevent being infected.

There is also evidence that routine over the counter medication that would help ward off some of these situations or help remedy them in the early stages are not available to people that are poor or indigent.

The list of parasitic and exotic diseases numbers about 24 different diseases, and these 24 diseases are thought to affect about 300,000 Americans, and maybe even millions of people, according to the study being published by author Dr. Peter Hotez.

Dr. Hotez is also the chairman of the George Washington University Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Disease section.