Death to the Guinea Worm
I read a heartwarming story yesterday, about the Guinea Worm. But for the sake of common decency, I'm not going to post pictures on the blog. For those brave souls who want to see a picture, look here.The Guinea Worm used to be a horrible problem in African countries. The disease, also called dracunculiasis causes severe pain and suffering to millions. They breed in standing water and feed on human hosts, and are a difficult problem for those who must use open water for survival. In the disease, both male and female worms are consumed, and the males soon die after mating. The female, on the other hand, grows to nearly 3 feet long, burrowing into the host's legs, where they start to lay their eggs and produce young, painfully infecting and swelling the leg in the process. Eventually, the wound opens, and the mother burrows out of the wound to give her babies room to leave. The complete life cycle is here.
Removing these nasty things can take up to 3 months, and it is excruciatingly painful. Also, any human that gets infected will usually go to the water to immerse the wound, which not only eases the pain, but also releases thousands of eggs back into the water for another round of hell.
The good news is that this human parasite is almost eradicated! There were no complicated drugs and no pesticides used to acheive this. Instead, health officials literally went from village to village, spreading two simple memes: Filter you water with tightly woven mesh, and resist the urge to enter the water during the painful stages of the disease.
That's it.
These small, cultural variations in health and treatment went from mother to mother, villiage to villiage. It has been incredibly sucessful. The WTO estimates that by 2009, this human parasite will literally be eliminated, taking its rightful place with smallpox as a critter slain by human ingenuity and sheer preserverence.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to every health official that had a part in this 25 year struggle! Huzzah!
posted by Chris W. @ 8:54 AM
