Larvae are immature forms of the Guinea worm. People who live in countries where GWD is occurring such as Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan and consume raw or undercooked aquatic animals such as small whole fish that have not been gutted, other fish, and frogs may also be at risk for GWD. People who live in villages where there has been a case of GWD in a human or animal in the recent past are at greatest risk.
The disease causes preventable suffering for infected people and is an economic and social burden for affected communities. Adult female worms come out of the skin slowly and cause great pain and disability.
Adults with active GWD might not be able to work in their fields or tend their animals. This can lead to food insecurity and financial problems for the entire family. Children may be required to work the fields or tend animals in place of their sick parents or guardians. This can keep them from attending school. Children who have GWD themselves may also be unable to attend school.
Therefore, GWD is both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty because of the disability it causes. This information is not meant to be used for self-diagnosis or as a substitute for consultation with a health care provider. If you have any questions about the parasites described above or think that you may have a parasitic infection, consult a health care provider. Department of Health and Human Services. Contact Us. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Parasites - Guinea Worm. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. On This Page What is dracunculiasis? How does Guinea worm disease spread? What are the signs and symptoms of Guinea worm disease? What is the treatment for Guinea worm disease? Where is Guinea worm disease found? Who is at risk for infection? Is Guinea worm disease a serious illness?
Without proper treatment, wounds caused by the worm can become infected by bacteria, leading to sepsis , septic arthritis , and contractures when joints lock and deform. In some cases, these infections become life-threatening. Guinea worm disease is caused by the parasitic worm Dracunculus medinensis , commonly called Guinea worm. The way the worm gets into the body and makes people sick is fairly complex , and it all starts with water fleas.
These small crustaceans known as copepods or water fleas live in stagnant water and eat the Guinea worm larvae. Inside, the larvae go through changes, and after two weeks, they are ready to be infective. When people drink water that has been contaminated with the copepods, the copepods die and release the larvae into the human digestive tract.
The larvae stay in the body for about a year as they mature into adult worms. Female adults can grow to be about 24—39 inches 60— centimeters long.
After mating, a worm starts to make its way toward the skin, causing physical discomfort. The itching and burning can become so intense that people rush to submerge the infected part in water to get relief.
Every time they do, the female adult worm breaks through the skin to discharge her immature larvae back out into the freshwater, starting the whole cycle again. After about two to three weeks, the female runs out of larvae, and eventually dies and becomes calcified in the body if it's not removed. The disease is largely seasonal , striking more frequently during the rainy or dry season depending on the area, and is not spread from person to person. Guinea worm disease is diagnosed through a simple physical exam.
Health care providers look for the telltale white, stringy worm poking through the blister once the affected area has been immersed in water. There are currently no diagnostic tests available to identify those infected before symptoms appear. Like many neglected tropical diseases, there is no cure or specific medication to treat Guinea worm disease.
De-worming medications used for other parasitic infections don't appear to work to treat Guinea worm infections or prevent symptoms from occurring.
Instead, treatment typically involves removing the worm through a long and painstaking process. Medications like ibuprofen can be given to reduce swelling and relieve pain involved. Antibiotic ointment can also be applied to the affected areas to prevent a bacterial infection. No vaccine exists against Guinea worm, but the disease can be completely prevented by ensuring safe drinking water and not allowing the adult worms to disperse their larvae. The best way to prevent infection is to drink water only from uncontaminated water sources, like hand-dug wells and boreholes.
Many communities affected by Guinea worm disease, however, lack access to clean drinking water. In those instances, any water used for drinking or cooking should be filtered.
The copepods that carry the Guinea worm larvae are too small to be seen without the help of a magnifying glass, but they're big enough to be easily removed from the water using a cloth or pipe filter.
Water sources can also be treated using a larvicide that kills the copepods and, as a result, the Guinea worm larvae. To protect drinking water supplies, those with blisters or partially removed worms should steer clear of fresh water drinking sources.
Fish and other aquatic animals coming from potentially contaminated water sources should also be cooked thoroughly before they are eaten. These animals sometimes eat infected copepods. Cooking their meat at a high temperature will kill off the larvae lurking inside. House pets, such as dogs, should never be given uncooked fish entrails or other foods scraps either. People can become infected with Guinea worm multiple times over the course of their lives. Reference Greenaway, C.
CMAJ, Ruiz-Tiben, E. Hopkins, Dracunculiasis Guinea worm disease eradication. Adv Parasitol, Hopkins, D. Am J Trop Med Hyg, Guinea Worm: The End in Sight. In: Medical and Health Annual, E. Bernstein ed. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Email Address.
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