Guinea Worm Eradication - The Fiery Serpant



About the Fiery Serpant

Guinea worm is known as "the fiery serpent" because of the special and often excruciating, burning pain - a pain which develops as the Guinea worm is preparing to emerge through the skin. A year after you drink water infested with the Guinea worm larvae, adult worms emerge through the skin anywhere on the body, though usually bellow the neck. Each worm is up to 1-meter long, and takes 3-8 weeks to come out completely, 2-3cm each day. Neither drugs nor vaccines have any impact on the Guinea worm, but patients benefit from bandaging and antiseptic as long as the wound is open.

A Brief Summary

9 Million Pipe Filters for Sudan
Read about the "9 Million Pipe Filters for Sudan" project.

Students Donate Medical Kits for Sudan
Medical students at all of Norway's universities mobilized to raise funds for Guinea Worm eradication

World Bank Cost Effectiveness Analysis on Guinea Worm Eradication Efforts

The World Bank found that Guinea Worm Eradication gives as good or better an "internal rate of return" as their own large, successful infrastructure programs. (pdf-file, 1 MB).

HDI Cash Rewards
La récompense HDI de la lutte contre la dracunculose
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