Dr. Peter Hotez speaks at Natcher on July 28.

In front of a standing-room-only audience in Natcher Bldg. on July 28, Dr. Peter Hotez admitted that he planned to go outside his comfort zone. While he frequently addresses groups on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in the world’s low- and middle- income countries, he has not spoken extensively about similar neglected infections of poverty in the United States.

The NTDs are chronic parasitic and related infections that plague the world’s poorest populations. The 17 members of the class, many of which are associated with parasites (usually worms), are not in themselves killers but instead make life so miserable that the human cost is calculated in DALYs—disability-adjusted life years. And there are many millions of them.

Talk about a summer bummer. They could attack you, fully unprovoked—like bees pouring out of a hornet’s nest—during your daughter’s graduation ceremony, in the middle of your family picnic or during the 7th inning stretch. Their pain can bring you to your knees. In fact, just the thought of them is enough to make a person wince—kidney stones.

There’s never a good time for these unwelcome intruders, but evidence shows they inflict their pain most often during the humid, oppressive summer months, when dehydration can most frequently occur and there is increased outdoor activity. They also crop up more often in southern parts of the country and, internationally, in regions close to the equator.