Need a scare before Halloween? Learning about creepy parasites could do it

As Halloween draws nearer, you don’t have to go very far to get a fright; the human body can do that all by itself.

“Parasites & Predators,” a free lecture on the eve of All Hallows’ Eve, will explore how the body regulates and defends against creepy outsiders.

“We’re living in this ocean of pathogens and things that are trying to kill us and they have been for millions of years,” said Joe Ketana, Monday’s lecturer at the Manatee County Downtown Library.

This presentation is a condensed version of his 8-week class of the same name at the Ringling College Lifelong Learning Academy where he teaches biology, specializing in teaching to non-scientists.

To Ketana, the most startling difference between the present and 150 years ago is how far humans have come in increasing lifespans. Some of the solutions to avoiding the unwanted pathogens, such as the guinea worm, are as basic as access to clean water.

Guinea worms, Kerata said, enter one’s system through drinking from an unsanitary water supply. They’re thin, white and can grow up to three feet inside the body. But unlike tapeworms, where medicine can be taken to get rid of them, the guinea worm “bores its way out of your skin” and needs to be carefully pulled out.

Former President Jimmy Carter started a program to eradicate the parasite in the 1980s, and today the issue still persists in Chad, according to the World Health Organization.

Kerata promises an easily comprehensible program focusing on how the immune system handles these intruders, and, of course, visual aids.

“As gross as it is, it’s going to be fun,” Kerata said.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Need a scare before Halloween? Learning about creepy parasites could do it."