Hookworm disease
Meaning of hookworm disease: For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, hookworm disease means an illness due to an infection with Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale, Ancylostoma ceylanicum or Ancylostoma caninum hookworms. Symptoms and signs may arise at variable times following infection and include skin lesions, dry cough, wheezing, nausea and diarrhoea. Anaemia may also arise in the course of the illness. (3) While hookworm disease attracts ICD-10-AM code B76, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of hookworm disease is that given in subsection (2). (4) For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Ninth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2015, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-020-5.
Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) — Statement of Principles No. 7 of 2017
At least one of the following factors must as a minimum exist before it can be said that a reasonable hypothesis has been raised connecting hookworm disease or death from hookworm disease with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:
- (1)ingesting or having cutaneous or mucosal contact with Ancylostoma duodenale, Ancylostoma ceylanicum or Ancylostoma caninum hookworm larvae within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (2)having cutaneous or mucosal contact with Necator americanus hookworm larvae within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (3)being in a tropical or subtropical region, where facilities for disposal of human waste are minimal and there is a high likelihood of the environment being contaminated with human faeces, within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (4)living or working in warm and damp conditions, in the presence of material contaminated with human faeces such as may occur in mines or tunnels, within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (5)inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for hookworm disease;
Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(5) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.
Balance of Probabilities (BoP) — Statement of Principles No. 8 of 2017
5 factors
At least one of the following factors must exist before it can be said that, on the balance of probabilities, hookworm disease or death from hookworm disease is connected with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:
- (1)ingesting or having cutaneous or mucosal contact with Ancylostoma duodenale, Ancylostoma ceylanicum or Ancylostoma caninum hookworm larvae within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (2)having cutaneous or mucosal contact with Necator americanus hookworm larvae within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (3)being in a tropical or subtropical region, where facilities for disposal of human waste are minimal and there is a high likelihood of the environment being contaminated with human faeces, within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (4)living or working in warm and damp conditions, in the presence of material contaminated with human faeces such as may occur in mines or tunnels, within the six years before the clinical onset of hookworm disease;
- (5)inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for hookworm disease;
Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(5) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.
