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March 27, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Sudan War Slows Fight Against Guinea Worm"

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (03/26/02) P. A7; Brown, David

Researchers reported Monday that as long as conflict continues in Sudan, the war against the parasitic infection guinea worm will not be won.  An effort to eradicate the disease--formally known as dracunculiasis--was launched in the mid-1980s, when 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia contracted the disease every year.  There were approximately 64,000 cases worldwide last year, and about 80 percent of them were in Sudan, an official involved in the campaign told scientists at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases.  Smallpox is the only disease to by fully eradicated, with the last naturally occurring case in Somalia in 1977.  Polio is almost eradicated, with the disease only appearing in about 10 countries worldwide and an expected eradication date set for 2005.  Vaccines played major roles in moving both smallpox and polio towards eradication, which makes the guinea worm disease an unlikely eradication candidate.  No vaccine or treatment exists for the disease, but it is nearing extinction as campaign directors expect guinea worm to be eradicated everywhere but Sudan by year-end 2004.

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