Dracunculiasis Lucy Pogosian Biology 402-Infectious Diseases

 GWD is considered a Neglected Tropical Disease  Caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis  Humans are the only reservior for this species of Dracunculus  Affects poor communities in remote parts of Africa that do not have safe water to drink 15/2/223.full

 No s/s until about 1 year after infection  A few hours before worm emerges, person may develop fever, swelling, and pain in area  >90% of worms come out at legs and feet  Wound can develop secondary bacterial infection /495/F3.expansion.html

 No drugs or vaccines  Once worm emerges it can only be pulled out a few cm a day by winding it around gauze or small stick  Aspirin or ibuprofen can help reduce pain and swelling  Antibiotic ointment can help prevent secondary infection  Worm can be surgically removed by trained doctor nigeria-to-get-guinea-worm- certificate-of-eradication-next-year

 GWD is both a disease of poverty and a cause poverty  Causes preventable suffering and a financial social burden  Worm emerge during harvesting season  Parents may not be able to care for children  Children might have to leave school to tend to the field

 GWD is a promising candidate for successful eradication  First parasitic disease slated to be eradicated  Second human disease in history to be eradicated full

 Programs involved:  The Carter Center  World Health Organization (WHO)  Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)  World Bank  National Ministries of Health rg/health/guinea_worm/i ndex.html

The decline in cases of guinea worm disease by country and by year, 1989 to Cairncross S et al. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2002;15:

Biswas, Gautam, Dieudonne P. Sankara, Junerlyn Agua-Agum, and Alhousseini Maiga. "Dracunculiasis (guinea Worm Disease): Eradication without a Drug or a Vaccine."Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society (2013): n. pag. Web. 17 Mar Cairncross, Sandy, Ralph Muller, and Nevio Zagaria. "Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease) and the Eradication Initiative." Clinical Microbiology Reviews 15.2 (2002): Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease) and the Eradication Initiative. Web. 17 Mar "Dracunculiasis." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Mar Eberhard ML, Ruiz-Tiben E, Hopkins DR, Farrell C, Toe F, Weiss A, Withers PC, Jenks MH, Thiele EA, Cotton JA, Hance Z, Holroyd N, Cama VA, Tahir MA, Mounda T, The peculiar epidemiology of dracunculiasis in Chad. Am JTrop Med Hyg 90: 61–70. Enserink, Martin. "Guinea Worm Eradication at Risk in South Sudanese War." Science (2014): 236. Print. "Guinea Worm Eradication Program." The Carter Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar "Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis — January 2012–June 2013."Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Oct Web. 17 Mar