Guinea worm is, in fact,
a real worm
. It is a large nematode, Dracunculus medinensis, which is ingested through drinking contaminated water. The condition is known as dracunculiasis or guinea-worm disease.
Is Guinea worm painful?
When the adult female worm comes out of the skin,
it can be very painful
, take time to remove, and be disabling. Often, the wound caused by the emerging worm develops a secondary bacterial infection. This makes the pain worse and can increase the time an infected person is unable to function from weeks to months.
Is the Guinea worm deadly?
Guinea worm disease is found in South Asia and Northern Sub-Saharan Africa only. The
disease is rarely deadly but can cause extreme discomfort
. Painful blisters form on the skin, which are prone to bacterial infections. The disease can also lead to joint injuries and damage of inner organs.
Where does the Guinea worm live?
The guinea worm, a parasite of humans, is found in
tropical regions of Asia and Africa and in the West Indies and tropical South America
.
Does Guinea worm still exist?
Previously affecting millions of people across Africa, India, and the Middle East,
Guinea worm is now nearly eradicated
, with just 27 cases documented in 2020. It will likely be the first parasitic disease to be globally eradicated.
How does Guinea worm affect the body?
When the adult female worm is ready to come out, it creates a
blister on the skin
anywhere on the body, but usually on the legs and feet. This blister causes a very painful burning feeling and it bursts within 24-72 hours. Immersing the affected body part into water helps relieve the pain.
Why is eliminating guinea worm so difficult?
However, finishing off Guinea worm is proving difficult. DNA analysis has confirmed that an 8-year-old Angolan girl has the disease, the first case recorded in the country. Guinea worm disease is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, the complicated lifecycle of which hampers eradication efforts.
What is worm in human body?
Intestinal worms, also known as parasitic worms, are one of the main types of intestinal parasites. Common types of intestinal worms include:
flatworms
, which include tapeworms and flukes. roundworms, which cause ascariasis, pinworm, and hookworm infections.
What is the life cycle of Guinea worm?
The male worm dies shortly after mating, and the female matures over the subsequent
10–14 months
, slowly migrates to the surface of the body and emerges through the skin. When affected body parts are submerged in water, the female worm releases larvae, which are ingested by copepods, thus completing the life cycle.
Which disease caused due to worm?
Infections caused by roundworms are fairly common.
Ascariasis is the most common roundworm infection
. About 10 percent of the developing world is infected with intestinal worms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
How long can a human have worms?
Adult worms can live up to 7 years in a person’s lymph system
. The disease only spreads from person to person through mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites an infected person, they can spread the tiny worms to other people they bite.
Can worms crawl out of your skin?
Sometimes adult worms can be seen moving under the skin
. High numbers of blood cells called eosinophils are sometimes found on blood counts. Some people who are infected for many years may develop kidney damage though development of permanent kidney damage is not common.
Can humans get worms from guinea pigs?
Just as dogs and cats can get parasites, so
can pet rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas
, and small rodents. While there are hundreds of possible parasites that animals can carry, some are more common than others, and not all of them are transmittable to people.
Why can guinea worm infection be eradicated?
Unfortunately,
there is no medicine to cure
Guinea worm disease nor a vaccine to prevent it, and humans do not develop immunity to the disease. However, disease transmission can be prevented. Guinea worm disease is on track to become the second human disease, and the first parasitic disease, to be eradicated.
What is the incubation period for Guinea worm disease?
As the incubation period of the worm takes
10–14 months
, a single missed case will delay eradication by a year or more.
Are guinea worms in the US?
The North American guinea worms are
nematodes found in numerous furbearing species in the U.S.
and Canada. Two species of worms, Dracunculus insignis and D. lutrae, are recognized under this common name. The slender worms reside in the subcutaneous spaces of the legs, resulting in ulcerations in these affected areas.
