Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease): A Report
Download
Report
Transcript Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease): A Report
Dracunculiasis
(Guinea Worm Disease):
A Report
Shelly Beard, Nicole Corder, and
Majken Kiyohara
Dracunculiasis – In Brief:
Commonly known as the guinea worm disease
Caused by the largest of tissue parasites
affecting humans, the parasitic roundworm
Dracunculus medinensis
Transmitted to people when they drink water
containing copepods that are infected with
Dracunculus medinensis larvae
Rarely fatal but often incapacitating for several
months
Not currently possible to prevent or treat with
drugs
The Report:
Historical highlights
The lifecycle
Morphology
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Socioeconomic impact, past and present
The eradication initiative
Historical Highlights
Old Testament:
021:006 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they
bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
021:007 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned,
for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray
unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.
And Moses prayed for the people.
021:008 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that
is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Historical Highlights:
The 'fiery serpent' mentioned in the Old Testament
The serpents coiled around the staff of Hermes, the
symbol of a physician
Believed to be anything from exposed nerves to dead
tissue in the Middle Ages
It was suggested that they were worms in mid 1700s
1905: The life cycle was described
1986: Dracunculiasis was chosen as the next disease
to be targeted for worldwide eradication
Classification
Dracunculus medinensis:
Nematode (also known as roundworms)
Superfamily: Dracunculoidea
Order: Spirurida
• Mammalian tissue parasites
• Eggs or larvae require arthropods (insects
or crustaceans) as intermediate hosts
The Lifecycle
The Lifecycle
First-stage larvae (L1)
are released into
water by a mature
female worm
L1 remain active in the
water up to 1 week
until they are ingested
by a suitable copepod
The transformation to
infectious third stage
larvae (L3) occurs
within 2 weeks
The Lifecycle
Infection of man is
effected when
swallowing infected
copepods
After 3 month the
worms mate and the
male dies. The female
continues to grow and
travel down the muscle
planes.
The female emerges
after 10-14 months to
release larvae in water
and completes the cycle…
Morphology
Morphology
medinensis is usually
Dracunculus
white
adult female is among the
The
longest of nematodes:
•
•
Often measures one meter in length
No more than 1-2 mm wide
(thin like spaghetti or angel hair
pasta)
male is generally much smaller
The
and rarely recovered from humans,
because he dies shortly after
mating
Female
Male
Techniques used to evade the Human
Immune System:
Roundworms have an outer protective cuticle
layer; some worms can even survive in pure
vinegar
Opiates from Dracunculus medinensis lower
the sensation of pain in the human host and
significantly decrease the immune systems’
responsiveness
Antigen cloaking, disguises itself as human
Manipulate the humans' immune system to
prevent acquisition of immunity
Symptoms
Symptoms:
Most often asymptomatic from time of
infection until days before emergence
Pre-partum Immune response:
• Fever, ulceration, and a painful burning
sensation in the area where the worm will
present
Post-partum susceptibility to secondary
infections in open wounds
Symptoms:
On occasion worms migrate to joints, die
prematurely, and calcify.
The calcified worms can trigger arthritis,
locked joints, or permanent crippling and
deformities
Diagnosis
Patent Diagnosis
Made by observing visible characteristics
of the disease and communicating with the
infected person
Prepatent Diagnosis
Desirable in an effort to achieve containment of
the disease
Possible to discover infection up to six months
before emergence
• Falcon Assay Screening Test-Enzyme-Linked
Immunosorbent Assay (FAST-ELISA)
• Enzyme-linked Immunoelectrotransfer Blot (EITB)
technique
However, testing is complex, expensive and not well
suited for the socioeconomically challenged areas
where Dracunculiasis still occurs
Treatment
Traditional Treatment
Traditional treatment starts when the worm
begins to emerge from the body
The worm is wrapped around a small stick in
order to prevent retraction and facilitate the
extraction which can take weeks
For the ones fortunate enough to afford it:
• An analgesic can be taken to reduce the swelling
associated with the blister
• Antibiotic ointment and proper cleansing can be used to
prevent secondary bacterial infections
Medications
The medications generally used for parasitic
worm infections do not work to eliminate
Dracunculus medinensis:
• Treatment with drugs such as diethylcarbamazine,
albendazole, and invermectin don’t display a
statistically significant reduction in worm burden
when compared with controls
• Mebendazole usage increased the chance of the worm
emerging in locations other than the feet and legs
Vaccines are currently not available, and
immunity isn’t acquired (re-infections are
possible)
Invasive Treatment
Surgical removal of the worm (before a blister
forms) shortens the duration of the debilitating
pain and prevents further contamination of water
sources
However, this form of treatment is rarely desirable
or even an option in socioeconomically challenged
areas
Prevention
Prevention
Lack of treatment options and the burden of care
during the long infectious process brings the
focus to prevention
Preventative measures:
• Treating contaminated water sources with larvicide
• Providing drinking water from underground sources
• Filtering to remove copepods from surface water
used for drinking
• Education, education, education !
Challenges
Cultural and religious practices
• Chemicals should not be added to sacred ponds
• Fear of “filtering off the power” of sacred water
• Belief that Dracunculiasis is a result of witchcraft
Getting to all the rural locations with occurrences
Social unrest, such as ongoing war in Sudan
This pond serves 1,500 people
with drinking water
Socioeconomic Impact
Socioeconomic Impact
It has been estimated that infected people
lose 100 days of work per year
Children are absent from school for 25%
of the school year, if they or members of
their family are infected
The cost in lost revenue for the individual
and the community can be very high
Historical Impact
Written and pictorial documents indicate
that Dracunculus medinensis has affected
mankind for many centuries
The titles “Guinea” and “Medina” stem
from areas with significant incidences of
the disease
A finding of a male worm in a mummy
indicates that the wealthy were also
susceptible to infection
Current Impact
Dracunculiasis is currently limited to remote,
rural villages in 13 sub-Saharan African
countries without access to safe drinking water
The vast majority
of current cases
inflict citizens of
the war-torn nation
of Sudan
Distribution by Country of 10,674 Cases of
Dracunculiasis, 2005 – Includes imported cases
The last known indigenous case occurred
in Kenya in 1994, but this country has
been kept in the stage of pre-certification
of eradication because of annual
importations of cases from Sudan.
Dracunculiasis in the USA?
A case history from 1995:
Nine year old emigrant from Sudan. Before leaving
Sudan, a Dracunculus medinensis worm was extracted
successfully from her right leg
After arriving in the United States another worm began to
emerge from her left leg
She presented to a clinic in Tennessee with a secondary
infection; treatment with antibiotics was unsuccessful
Surgical intervention facilitated removal of the
fragmented worm, pus, and necrotic tissue
With proper outpatient therapy, the girl was able to walk
and returned to normal
The Eradication
Initiative
The Eradication Initiative
In the 1980s a global campaign was launched to
eradicate Dracunculiasis worldwide
• At that time Dracunculiasis was known to inflict India,
Pakistan, 16 sub-Saharan countries in Africa, as well
as Yemen
• Eradication efforts began in 1982 in India and shortly
thereafter in Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon
By 1995, all of the known endemic countries
established eradication programs
Between 1980 and now, the cases worldwide
have been reduced by more than 99.5%
Pakistan: An Example of Eradication
Village-wide search for cases of Dracunculiasis in 1987
• Reached 47,401 of the 50,000 suspected endemic villages
The main interventions: monofilament nylon or polyester
cloth filters, and chemical treatment of drinking water
sources with temephos
Trained healthcare workers in villages to identify and
report cases of Dracunculiasis
Case containment began in 1990
Incentive rewards were offered in 1991 to any health
worker or individual reporting a case of Dracunculiasis in
a village
Pakistan has been free from Dracunculiasis since 1994
Shelly Beard
Nicole Corder
Thank
You
Majken Kiyohara