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The effectiveness of combined control measures on the prevalence of guinea worm disease in Anambra State, Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

O. C. Nwaorgu
O. C. Nwaorgu
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Anambra State University of Technology, P.M.B. 01660, Enugu, Nigeria
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Abstract

The prevalence of guinea worm Dracunculus medinensis was determined in communities in Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria during the 1984–1985 guinea worm season. Thereafter combined intervention measures which included health education and community participation in pond treatment were introduced in one of the two communities. There was a decrease in disease prevalence from 88.7% to 33% in Group A (372 households) and from 88% to 53% in Group B (368 households), two years after control measures were introduced in Igbeagu community. However, in 345 households in Mpu community without control measures, any decrease was not significant (from 88·7% to 86·5%). Health Education combined with pond disinfection proved to be a much better intervention measure, contributing to the change in attitude and therefore decrease in disease prevalence, than pond disinfection alone.

Keywords

Dracunculus medinensisNigeriacontrolNematoda
Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 65 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 226 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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