The Guinea Worm Can Be Defeated with a Sustainable
And Clean Water Supply

The guinea worm is one of the world’s most infamous parasitic infections. The fight to prevent guinea worm disease, also known, as Dracunculiasis has been going strong for over the past 20 years. Thanks to organizations like UNICEF and other philanthropic foundations, a concerted effort to provide clean and filtered water to poor nations in Africa has led to the near eradication of this debilitating disease. Given that the guinea worm and the disease it fosters is near eradication, it is critically important to ensure that it does not propagate due to inadequate drinking water systems.

The key to preventing the spread of guinea worm disease is completely reliant on having a clean water supply. Should a person drink from a contaminated well or other water source, the guinea worm will travel to the intestinal track and will start maturing. An adult female guinea worm will emerge after about a year, somewhere through the skin around the lower limbs. This process is both slow and very painful. Measuring at a maximum length of three feet, the ruptured skin will prompt an infected host to seek immediate comfort by washing the infected area. It is through the exposure to water that the worm will then release millions of larvae into the surrounding water and thereby lead to the infection of anyone else that drinks or uses that newly infected water source.

Symptoms of immediate guinea worm infection only occur a few days before the worm erupts. These symptoms include a blister around the infected area, intense fever, and pain. The slow extraction of the worm is the only remedy since there is no vaccine or prescribed drug to treat an infection.

Contact your physician immediately should you suspect that you or someone you know may have come into contact with a guinea worm, or if you contracted guinea worm disease.