Context:
Recently an article on the global push for Guinea worm disease eradication approaching completion
Guinea Worm Disease:
- A parasitic disease
- Caused by – Guinea worm
- Primarily affects – People in rural, deprived, and isolated communities who does not have proper primary facilities.
- Transmission – Drinking stagnant surface water contaminated with parasite infected water fleas
- Symptoms –
- Painful skin lesions as the worm emerges, causing weeks of intense pain, swelling, and secondary infections
- Infected individuals become non-functional for weeks or months
- Impacts – More than 90% of infections occur in the legs and feet, affecting individuals’ mobility and ability to work or perform daily tasks
- Prevention:
- No vaccine or medication
- Prevention strategies – Heightened surveillance, preventing transmission from each worm through treatment and wound care, filtering water before drinking, larvicide use and health education.
Eradication Achievements:
- Global –
- Eradication efforts started in 1980s with contributions from WHO
- Countries are certified as free of transmission after reporting zero instances for at least 3 consecutive years
- Since 1995, WHO has certified 199 countries, territories, and areas as free of transmission
- India –
- India achieved Guinea worm disease elimination in the late 1990s through rigorous public health measures, including water safety interventions and community education
- The government of India received Guinea worm disease-free certification status from the WHO in 2000.
The WHO recorded only 6 cases of Guinea worm disease in 2023. Nations like South Sudan and Mali, have made commendable progress, although the fight continues particularly in Chad and the Central African Republic.
Guinea Worm:
- Largest of the tissue parasite affecting humans
- When someone drinks contaminated water, the cyclops is dissolved by the gastric acid of the stomach and the larvae are released and migrate through the intestinal wall.
- Cyclops – One of the most common genera of freshwater copepods
Related articles: Gut Microbiome
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
Consider the following diseases
1. Diphtheria
2. Chickenpox
3. Smallpox
Which of the above diseases has/have been eradicated in India?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2014 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) None
Answer: (b)
