"Without surgical intervention, the process of removing the worm usually
takes weeks or months."
Spending a month to pull four feet of worm out of you after it has spent a
year eating your insides would make that an unpleasant hitchhiker. It's
interesting how many parasites seem to depend upon an intermediate host to
get to the desired victim. It's also very surprising to me that a parasite
like this wouldn't be attacking almost all mamals. A parasite that
essentially depends upon people would seem to have a pretty precarious
existence except for areas where people have lived continuously for hundreds
or perhaps thousands of years.
-jeff
----Original Message Follows----
From: USHER99@xxxxxxx
My least favorite hitchhiker is Drancunculus medinensis known since ancient
times as the "fiery serpent" or guinea worm. They live under the skin and
can reach 2 1/2 to 4 ft in length. A treatment still used as often the
best is
catching hold of the worm and slowly winding it on a stick. This must be
done slowly as if the worm breaks it retracts and death can ensue from
anaphylaxis or secondary infection. I'll take a pass.
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis)
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|