Marty: I was raised in northern Florida and the health and hygiene people must have missed us because both my older brother and sister got hook worm from going barefoot (This was in the 60s). Maybe it was because my Mom was raised in upstate New York and didn't realize there was a problem. At the time we called it "creeping eruption" and I believe the treatment was having the affected skin on the foot frozen somehow. Evocative name, eh? Jeanne Ward IMA Consulting, Inc. >I believe that the awareness of the hook-worm's life cycle and manner of infestation post-dates dirt yards. My father also used to run around bare-foot until the (federal?) health and hygiene campaigns of the '30s--from then on he was made to wear shoes. My brothers and I were also raised to always be shod (ostensibly because of hookworm) and to this day I only take my shoes off for bath, bed, or the beach. :) > >Marty Perdue ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com