Where There Is No Doctor 2011 407
Signs:
• A painful swelling develops on the ankle, leg, testicles or elsewhere on the body.
• After a week a blister forms, which soon bursts open forming a sore. This often
happens when standing in water, or bathing. The end of a white thread-like
Guinea worm can be seen poking out of the sore.
• If the sore gets dirty and infected, the pain and swelling spread, and walking
becomes impossible. Sometimes tetanus occurs (see p. 182).
Treatment:
♦ Keep the sore clean. Soak the sore in cold
water until the worm’s head pokes out.
♦ Attach a thread to the worm, or roll it round
a thin stick, and pull gently, a little more
each day. This may take a week or more.
The worm can be more than a meter long!
Try not to break it, because this can cause
severe infection.
sore
Guinea
worm,
tied to a
thread
♦ Give metronidazole or thiabendazole to
help reduce discomfort and make it easier
to slowly pull out the worm. (The medicines
do not kill the worms. For dosages and
precautions, see p. 369 and 375.)
♦ Give anti-tetanus vaccination (p. 147).
♦ If sores become infected (spreading pain, redness, swelling, and fever), give
penicillin or dicloxicillin or a similar antibiotic (see p. 351).
Prevention:
♦ Use tap water for drinking, if available. If a water hole is the
only supply, then do not drink from it directly. Pour the water
into a special drinking water pot, through a clean cloth tied
over the top. The cloth will filter out the infected water-fleas.
♦ If the community can build stone
steps into the water hole, people can
scoop water from the last dry step
without getting wet.
♦ Or turn the water hole into a well,
so that people can draw water
with a rope and bucket.
Water low
Water high
ALWAYS USE THE LAST DRY STEP.
NEVER STEP INTO THE WATER.
If nobody wades or bathes in water used for drinking, the infection cannot
be passed on, and will eventually disappear from the area.