| notions and treatment of guinea worm in northern ghana. | dracunculiasis, infection with dracunculus medinensis or guinea worm, is widespread in the northern region of ghana, where rural people drink from unprotected water sources such as ponds and small-scale dams. this paper discusses the results of an anthropological study of beliefs and practices concerning commonly occurring illnesses, such as infection with guinea worm (nierifu), in two rural dagomba communities in the northern region of ghana. the importance of knowing about local perceptions an ... | 1995 | 7481944 |
| water sources and other determinants of dracunculiasis in the northern region of ghana. | this paper describes a study carried out in a rural area of ghana on the drinking water sources and other determinants of dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease). the results confirm the association between water source choice and the prevalence of the disease. a logistic regression model was used to show the combined effect of several behavioural, biological, and environmental risk factors. the important behavioural factors were related to the head of household, fetching of water, travelling, and ... | 1993 | 8288853 |
| the antibody response to dracunculus medinensis in an endemic human population of northern ghana. | the serum antibody response (total, and isotypes igg1, igg4, igm, iga and ige) to guinea worm infection was examined in humans from a highly endemic area of northern ghana by elisa and sds-page/western blot techniques using an adult d. medinensis antigen. sera were obtained early and late in the peak transmission period, from persons with patent and postpatent infections, as well as from persons from the same endemic area who claimed never to have had guinea worm infection. to observe for potent ... | 1993 | 8509617 |
| the intermediate hosts of dracunculus medinensis in northern region, ghana. | cyclopoid copepods were collected over a period of 17 months from six man-made water reservoirs in an area of northern ghana where dracunculiasis is endemic. the numbers and species of cyclopoid copepods as well as the species naturally infected with dracunculus medinensis larvae were recorded at fortinightly intervals. the occurrence of copepods was compared with concurrent rainfall and with monthly incidences of dracunculiasis in the year after the reservoir survey. seven species and two subsp ... | 1997 | 9290847 |
| the acceptability and effectiveness of a polyester drinking-water filter in a dracunculiasis-endemic village in northern region, ghana. | in the global effort to eradicate dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) one of the main tools is the use of filters for filtering unsafe drinking-water. the expensive and high-quality monofilament nylon filters, which for many years were donated to all dracunculiasis-endemic countries, are now mainly reserved for highly endemic countries. polyester cloth is less expensive, and we investigated the user acceptability and effectiveness of this material as a drinking-water filter in a dracunculiasis- ... | 1997 | 9447778 |
| studies on immunodiagnosis of dracunculiasis. ii. search for circulating antigens. | sera from individuals living in a dracunculiasis endemic area of northern ghana were examined for circulating dracunculus medinensis antigens by applying protocols previously developed for detection of circulating antigens in other helminth infections. antisera from rabbits immunised with homogenized first stage d. medinensis larvae were used for antigen capture and detection in three different forms, namely non-treated, biotinylated and horseradish peroxidase (hrp)-labelled. three different pre ... | 1998 | 9777716 |
| potential vector species of guinea worm (dracunculus medinensis) in northern ghana. | guinea worm disease, also known as dracunculiasis (or dracunculosis), is caused by the large female of the nematode dracunculus medinensis. it normally lives and grows in various places in the human body, before migrating to subcutaneous tissue and eventually emerging slowly from the skin, usually on the lower limbs. if the affected portion of the body comes into contact with water, first-stage juveniles (l(1)) are expelled in large numbers from the ruptured uterus. for further development, the ... | 2007 | 17767406 |
| evaluation of the integrated disease surveillance and response system for infectious diseases control in northern ghana. | well-functioning surveillance systems are crucial for effective disease control programs. the integrated disease surveillance and response (idsr) strategy was developed and adopted in 1998 for africa as a comprehensive public health approach and subsequently, ghana adopted the idsr technical guidelines in 2002. since 2012, the idsr data is reported through the new district health information management system ii (dhims2) network. the objective was to evaluate the integrated disease surveillance ... | 2015 | 25648630 |