The Guinea worm is a parasitic infection found in the
drinking water. It is often found in Asia and Africa. When water containing the
Guinea Worm is ingested it begins to grow and can grow up to three feet within
a year. Eventually the worm will leave its victim through a burning blister.
When water is splashed over the blister the worm releases eggs in the victim
and the process starts all over again. The only way to truly get rid of the
worm is to wrap it around a stick and slowly pull it out. Thanks to volunteer
efforts this disease will most likely be the second to be eradicated and the
first to be eradicated without a vaccine. Volunteers have been handing out
straws with a cloth covering over them to keep the worm from being ingested and
they have been teaching the villagers to avoid infection. There have been only
291 cases this year and as the number is continuously dwindling it is becoming
hardest and most challenging time of all. It takes a lot of effort to be sure
that every worm has been taken care of.
When Jimmy Carter paired up with the World Health
Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to eradicate
the Guinea worm in 1986 there were 3.5 billion cases of Guinea worm across 21
countries that year. This year so far there were only 391 cases worldwide. It
is amazing to think that this disease is almost eradicated thanks to volunteers
who helped the people in the villages rid themselves of the disease. This is a
significant event because it will be the second disease to be eradicated and
the first to be eradicated without the help of a vaccine. It was a rare chance
that solely volunteer work would solve the problem of this disease but it shows
what can be done when people are willing to step up and lend a hand.
Good work. Good summary. You could have strengthened the blog overall with a short discussion of where the Guinea Worm was most a danger, at least the put the issue in a little more context.
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