> Worm in intestine
> Eggs deposited near butthole
> Causes an itchy arse, which people itch
> Eggs on fingers. Eggs are sticky and not easily washed.
> Fingers touch food being prepared.
> People eat food.
I suspect therefore that communal food preparation (ie. one person prepares everyone's food, perhaps on a rota) is the main cause of this.
Intestinal worms can transmitted a number of different ways, but it's commonly the oral-fecal contamination route where feces comes in contact with food (when feces are used as fertilizer) or water (poor waste management) which is consumed.
However, hookworm larva can penetrate intact skin. Step in a puddle with bare (or exposed feet) and you can get infected.
typically confined to the dermis though and don't penetrate to the gut to complete the lifecycle. Luckily
They specifically sampled the dirt that fell into the abdominal cavity of these monks. Wouldn't a potential variable be whether those eggs may have actually been in the dirt above the body that then fell rather than being in the intestines of the monks when they died? It could be that the soil they were buried under had a higher parasite egg load than the soil used to bury the non-monks elsewhere.
I'll try to come back around and do some reading as far as what particular parasites the researchers identified and how they're transmitted/their life cycles when my brain fires up later today. If you've got the time and motivation to give me a head start though, it would be much appreciated.