Hookworm infection risk factors

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

People who have direct contact with soil that contains human feces in areas where hookworm is common are at high risk of infection. Children –because they play in dirt and often go barefoot– are at high risk. Since transmission of hookworm infection requires development of the larvae in soil, hookworm cannot be spread person to person. Contact among children in institutional or child care settings should not increase the risk of infection.