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Calcification in the Guinea Worm^*

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

Infestation by Dracunculus medinensis is common in certain parts of Africa and India. The embryos mature to larvæ in a species of freshwater snail, and further development in man occurs after drinking infested water. The larvæ make their way from the stomach to the subcutaneous tissues, nearly always of the feet and lower parts of the legs, where the adult female matures to a length of between one and four feet. A small blister is then raised on the skin, often associated with local urticaria and a moderate systemic disturbance; and the blister rupturing, large quantities of minute embryos are discharged from the sinus. The worm can usually be seen, and palpated subcutaneously.

^* Comments on several cases demonstrated at Medical Members' Meeting, British Institute of Radiology, February 18, 1944.