(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) GUINEA WORM DISEASE

(MARCH-2024)

Recently, countries like South Sudan and Mali, where Guinea Worm disease was once more common have made remarkable progress in its eradication.

As the globe gets closer to eliminating Guinea worm disease, public health triumphs are imminent.
Only three African nations—Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan—remain endemic today, out of the twenty that were endemic globally in the early 1980s.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) weekly epidemiological report states that there were over 3.5 million instances of this disease in the 1980s, but that number dropped to 14 cases in 2021, 13 cases in 2022, and just six cases in 2023.

Guinea worm is a large nematode, Dracunculus medinensis, which is ingested through drinking contaminated water. The condition is known as guinea-worm disease or dracunculiasis.
The worm eventually results in a painful and severe infection that usually starts as a blister on the leg.
The person may have significant pain, fever, swelling, itching, and a burning feeling around the time of the eruption.

Guinea worm disease has no treatment or vaccine.
The worm can only be removed by winding it around gauze or a stick, sometimes within days. The process usually takes weeks, and care must be taken not to break the worm.