A man came in on Thursday with a Guinea Worm coming out of his right foot. This is my first experience with Guinea worms and I asked to take pictures. In a matter of minutes, Caleb, our trusty Clinic Officer had a hold of that sucker and was meticulously drawing it out. I watched in genuine disgust and horror as easily 10 cm stretched out before my eyes.
Guinea worms are nasty little parasites that breed in water. A person, unlucky enough to somehow ingest an egg, will soon have a worm issue. How it works is an egg lands somewhere in the body, hatches and then grows. Eventually, it finds its way to the surface by burrowing its way out! Yikes!
Please Lord, don’t ever let me get one of these suckers! I hear they are terribly painful!
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