Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's dream of eradicating Guinea worm disease is almost realized. Despite the lack of vaccines, treatments, or diagnostic tests, the Carter Center's low-tech public health initiatives have brought the number of cases down significantly.
In this Nov. 4, 2010 photo, children collect drinking water from a pond using filters provided to them by The Carter Center's guinea worm eradication program in the remote village of Lengjak, in Awerial County, Lakes State, Southern Sudan.With his death on Sunday at the age of 100, the former U.S. president’s wish didn’t come true. But it’s tantalizingly close.The number of cases of the parasitic Guinea worm disease detected worldwide, down from more than 3.5 million in 1986 when Mr.
Carter began his seemingly quixotic quest. When Guinea worm is wiped off the planet, it will become only the second human disease in history that has been eradicated, after smallpox. It’s a remarkable achievement, but it’s just one small part of Mr. Carter’s legacy. Most remarkable of all, eradication will be achieved without the benefit of a vaccine, treatment or even a diagnostic test. Just old-fashioned, low-tech measures, coupled with community involvement – public health at its finest. Guinea worm is usually spread by drinking stagnant water infected with tiny crustaceans called copepods (or water fleas) that contain Guinea worm larvae. When the copepods are ingested, the person’s stomach acid breaks them down while the Guinea worms can procreate and survive, eventually breaking through the infected person’s digestive tract and migrating to exit the body through the skin. There, a blister forms and bursts, causing searing pain. Guinea worm is also known as dracunculiasis, Latin for “affliction with little dragons.” To relieve the pain caused by the blisters, sufferers often dunk their infected parts in water, releasing more eggs and starting the cycle anew. The only treatment is to grasp a worm that has emerged from the skin and extract it slowly using a small stick. While Guinea worm is not fatal, it can be debilitating. Cases have declined worldwide, but improvements in sanitation solved the problem
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