In this article we will discuss about the prevention and treatment of Dracunculiasis.
Prophylaxis (Prevention) of Dracunculiasis:
The infection can be prevented by breaking the link of “man-Cyclops-man” chain as follows:
i. Drinking water should be treated with disinfectants, sieved, strained, filtered and boiled to remove Cyclops.
ii. Chemical treatment of water-supply for eradication of Cyclops.
iii. Infected persons are not to be allowed to pollute water with larvae.
iv. Health education and Cyclops-free water suppliers are obvious control measures. The use of filters to screen out the Cyclops (Duke, 1984) and chemical control (using Abate: 1 part per million) have proved of value.
v. Application of wettable DDT (10 parts per million) in pond water may be applied for household purposes, and this greatly reduces the infection rate.
Treatment of Dracunculiasis:
Most drugs used against guinea- worms have proved to be of little or no value. No specific drug has yet been discovered.
i. Lambert (1966) obtained good results with a new nitrothiazole compound, Ambilhar.
ii. Elliott (1942) reported excellent results from injection of Phenothiazine emulsified in olive oil and it takes 5 to 7 days for the drug to act.
iii. Thiabendazole and Metronidazole are also used in the treatment of Dracontiasis.
iv. According to Rousset (1952), large doses of hetrazan—orally kill the adult worms and the developing stages of the worm are destroyed.