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The Indian Medical Gazette Aug 1936
PubMed: 29013053
DOI: No ID Found -
Le Journal Medical Libanais. the... 1970
Topics: Adult; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Humans; Lebanon; Male
PubMed: 4251308
DOI: No ID Found -
The National Medical Journal of India 2023The article 'Guinea-worm (Dracunculus medinensis) infection presenting as a diabetic foot abscess: A case report from Kerala is being retracted based on a letter...
The article 'Guinea-worm (Dracunculus medinensis) infection presenting as a diabetic foot abscess: A case report from Kerala is being retracted based on a letter received from the Director of the National Centre of Disease Control, New Delhi where the centre has objected to the identification of the guinea-worm by the authors only on the basis of morphological observation, without any microscopic and histopathological examination. The author has agreed to the objection and to the withdrawal of the article. This article is therefore being retracted. PEUSH SAHNI Editor The National Medical Journal of India All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India [email protected].
PubMed: 37615131
DOI: 10.25259/NMJI-32-22_ER -
The American Journal of Tropical... Oct 1989Two instances of the emergence of a bright-red worm from humans in Pakistan are described. A 25-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, unrelated and living in separate...
Two instances of the emergence of a bright-red worm from humans in Pakistan are described. A 25-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, unrelated and living in separate households, were observed in 1987 and 1988, respectively, to have emergent worms typical in size and location for Guinea worm disease, except for the color of the worms. The posterior end of 1 worm was recovered and appeared to be a female Dracunculus medinensis. Histologic sections provided insufficient information to determine the cause of the red color, although we could exclude blood as the cause.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Female; Humans; Male; Pigmentation
PubMed: 2529788
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.1989.41.479 -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Sep 2020Few human infectious diseases have been driven as close to eradication as dracunculiasis, caused by the Guinea worm parasite (Dracunculus medinensis). The number of...
Few human infectious diseases have been driven as close to eradication as dracunculiasis, caused by the Guinea worm parasite (Dracunculus medinensis). The number of human cases of Guinea worm decreased from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to mere hundreds by the 2010s. In Chad, domestic dogs were diagnosed with Guinea worm for the first time in 2012, and the numbers of infected dogs have increased annually. The presence of the parasite in a non-human host now challenges efforts to eradicate D. medinensis, making it critical to understand the factors that correlate with infection in dogs. In this study, we evaluated anthropogenic and environmental factors most predictive of detection of D. medinensis infection in domestic dog populations in Chad. Using boosted regression tree models to identify covariates of importance for predicting D. medinensis infection at the village and spatial hotspot levels, while controlling for surveillance intensity, we found that the presence of infection in a village was predicted by a combination of demographic (e.g. fishing village identity, dog population size), geographic (e.g. local variation in elevation), and climatic (e.g. precipitation and temperature) factors, which differed between northern and southern villages. In contrast, the presence of a village in a spatial infection hotspot, was primarily predicted by geography and climate. Our findings suggest that factors intrinsic to individual villages are highly predictive of the detection of Guinea worm parasite presence, whereas village membership in a spatial infection hotspot is largely determined by location and climate. This study provides new insight into the landscape-scale epidemiology of a debilitating parasite and can be used to more effectively target ongoing research and possibly eradication and control efforts.
Topics: Animals; Chad; Climate; Disease Eradication; Dog Diseases; Dogs; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Geography; Machine Learning
PubMed: 32925916
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008620 -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Nov 2016A third-stage (infective) larva of Dracunculus medinensis, the causative agent of Guinea worm disease, was recovered from a wild-caught Phrynobatrachus francisci frog in...
A third-stage (infective) larva of Dracunculus medinensis, the causative agent of Guinea worm disease, was recovered from a wild-caught Phrynobatrachus francisci frog in Chad. Although green frogs (Lithobates clamitans) have been experimentally infected with D. medinensis worms, our findings prove that frogs can serve as natural paratenic hosts.
Topics: Animals; Anura; Chad; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Helminthiasis, Animal; Larva
PubMed: 27560598
DOI: 10.3201/eid2211.161332 -
British Medical Journal Jan 1899
PubMed: 20758275
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.1.1986.146 -
The American Journal of Tropical... May 2018
Topics: Adult; Animals; Calcinosis; Dracunculiasis; Dracunculus Nematode; Female; Humans; Radiography
PubMed: 29745364
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0944 -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Oct 2022Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm) is a parasitic nematode that can cause the debilitating disease dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) in humans. The global Guinea...
Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm) is a parasitic nematode that can cause the debilitating disease dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) in humans. The global Guinea Worm Eradication Program has led intervention and eradication efforts since the 1980s, and Guinea worm infections in people have decreased >99.99%. With the final goal of eradication drawing nearer, reports of animal infections from some remaining endemic countries pose unique challenges. Currently, confirmation of suspected Guinea worm infection relies on conventional molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is not specific to Guinea worm and, therefore, requires sequencing of the PCR products to confirm the identity of suspect samples, a process that often takes a few weeks. To decrease the time required for species confirmation, we developed a quantitative PCR assay targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene of Guinea worm. Our assay has a limit of detection of 10 copies per reaction. The mean analytical parameters (± SE) were as follows: efficiency = 93.4 ± 7.7%, y-intercept = 40.93 ± 1.11, slope = -3.4896 ± 0.12, and the R2 = 0.999 ± 0.004. The assay did not amplify other nematodes found in Guinea worm-endemic regions and demonstrated 100% diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. Implementation of this quantitative PCR assay for Guinea worm identification could eliminate the need for DNA sequencing to confirm species. Thus, this approach can be implemented to provide more rapid confirmation of Guinea worm infections, leading to faster execution of Guinea worm interventions while increasing our understanding of infection patterns.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Dracunculus Nematode; Cytochromes b; Dracunculiasis; Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 36206300
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010830