At 07:00 PM Thursday 1/26/2006, Deborah Harrell wrote:
In the 'you learn something everyday' category (oh,
and a bit of an "eeuwww!" factor):
[I'm not providing the URL b/c you have to have a
subscription, but this is from eMedicine; they have
on-line quizzes/cases to solve.]
...Of interest, the universal symbol of medicine, ie,
the Asklepion (or caduceus, after Asklepios, the Greek
god of healing and medicine) is likely a
representation of dracunculiasis and its treatment. To
this day, accepted treatment remains the same. The
adult guinea worm is wrapped around a stick a few
centimeters a day to coax it from a person's skin.
Removal of the entire worm may take days to weeks.
Metronidazole or thiabendazole may be used as an
adjunct to stick therapy. The worm may also be removed
surgically if facilities are available...
...In humans, dracunculiasis, or guinea worm disease,
results from infection with D medinensis. In 1986,
more than 2.25 million cases of dracunculiasis
occurred worldwide. Ten years later, the estimated
worldwide incidence was close to 152,000 cases, which
were mostly from Sudan. This decline has been a result
of the Global Dracunculiasis Eradication Campaign.
Dracunculiasis now occurs in only 13 countries in
Africa, the Middle East, and in South Asia, including
Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Sudan, India, and Pakistan.
Infected areas in Africa lie in a band between the
Sahara and the equator.
People contract guinea worm disease by drinking fresh
water contaminated with D medinensis larvae. Small
water fleas in the water swallow the larvae. After the
worms mature in the flea, any person who swallows
contaminated water becomes infected. Once inside the
body, stomach acid digests the water flea but not the
guinea worm. During the next year, the worm grows to
full adult size. After a year, the worm migrates to
the surface of the body into the subcutaneous tissue.
As it migrates, a blister develops on the skin, where
the worm resides. The female adult worm eventually
emerges from the blister, rupturing the skin. When
hosts step into water, they release a milky, white
liquid containing millions of immature larvae,
contaminating the water supply.
Most worms appear on the legs and feet, but they may
occur anywhere in the body, as cases in the arms,
breasts, head, back, and scrotum are well documented.
Morbidity is from secondary infection of the lesions
and from the severe, incapacitating pain associated
with the blisters, especially when the worms exit the
body...
Debbi
(who got that it was worm infestation, but not the
exact species)
The story I heard was about the adult worm boring out under the
victim's knee. (IOW, in the front of the lower leg, just distal to
the kneecap.)
--Ronn! :)
"Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country
and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER
GOD. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that
would be eliminated from schools too?"
-- Red Skelton
(Someone asked me to change my .sig quote back, so I did.)
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