Facts about jiggers
Oct 18, 2010
THE Tunga Penetrans, also known as a jigger has, for the past month, made news headlines, putting one of the eastern regions, Busoga, in the limelight. Hundreds of Basoga have been plagued by the tiny parasite. <br>
THE Tunga Penetrans, also known as a jigger has, for the past month, made news headlines, putting one of the eastern regions, Busoga, in the limelight. Hundreds of Basoga have been plagued by the tiny parasite.
A number of children have dropped out of school because of the parasite, which mainly affects the feet and destabilises mobility. Adults too fail to till their gardens owing to the excruciating pain.
The situation has turned into an epidemic calling for the Government’s intervention. A task force comprising four ministers has been enacted to oversee extermination of jiggers from the region.
“Jigger infestation is mostly characterised by severe itching and inflammation of the tissues of the feet,†explains Henry Bukenya, a general physician at Mulago Hospital. It’s the feet affected at the start because they are the ones usually in contact with dust.
“At the start, the itching is just like any other but gets intensive with time and obviously, because of its size, the victim will not see this small organism,â€Bukenya says.
Then a tiny black dot appears on the skin at the point of penetration. The female flea by then has burrowed into the host’s skin and attached to the skin by clawing its mouth into the epidermis.
Hence, the posterior end of the flea sticks out and through it the parasite inhales and excretes while the head is within the skin, feeding on the host.
Bukenya explains that within 72 hours of breaking into the skin, a peaked swelling materialises because the female tunga has formed larvae. It can be as wide as two centimetres in diameter or more.
“The size depends on the rate at which the female parasite lays the eggs, the more the eggs laid, the bigger the size of the swelling.†As the parasite lays eggs, it feeds on the host’s blood and other body liquids.
“Though they commonly affect the feet, jiggers can affect any other body parts as well,†Bukenya notes.
So what conditions favour jiggers?
Dr. Joseph Wamala, an epidemiologist in the surveillance department at the ministry says generally, poor hygiene and sanitation, sharing accommodation with animals, dusty floors, and areas with sandy soils are the core predisposing factors for jigger multiplication.
“As regards hygiene, people who hardly wash their beddings or rarely bathe, are at a high risk of suffering jigger infestation. What’s more, poor disposal of both human and animal waste favours their development.â€
Additionally, Bukenya explains that the materials used to make the floors in rural areas can provide favourable conditions for jigger multiplication. “Some people mix sand with cow dung and these two are a recipe for jigger infestation.â€
But an elderly retired primary school teacher in western Uganda explains that the problem can only occur if cowdung is used and left for a long time without resealing because then it turns into dust, a good breeding condition for fleas.
But smearing the floor regularly with cowdung and allowing no dust accumulattion is the best way to chase away fleas and jiggers in rural areas where there are no cemented floors, he explains.
Wamala also explains that areas with sandy soils are good breeding places for fleas. “The female tunga Penetrans lays eggs in the sand where it multiplies.â€
Animals carry fleas in their fur so sharing a house with them also aids jigger multication.
Jazeera’s story
It’s a sweet sensation! Well, that is only at the start, but when the pain sets in, even walking for few inches spells extreme pain. I spent part of my childhood in Iganga with my grandmother at a place called CMS.
Getting jiggers was the order of the day since we often played in dust. Once a week, she would extract them but not without screams and kicks because of the extreme pain the exercise caused.
Fast forward 20 years, I read about our people in Busoga battling the same small nasty parasite but this time, with a number of deaths recorded.
We were lucky each time they dug in, we had them extracted. Right now, all I have to show for those days I would actually prefer to call fun days, because we played dawn to dusk in the dust, are a few prominent black spots under my feet, the scars left behind after their extraction.
A number of children have dropped out of school because of the parasite, which mainly affects the feet and destabilises mobility. Adults too fail to till their gardens owing to the excruciating pain.
The situation has turned into an epidemic calling for the Government’s intervention. A task force comprising four ministers has been enacted to oversee extermination of jiggers from the region.
“Jigger infestation is mostly characterised by severe itching and inflammation of the tissues of the feet,†explains Henry Bukenya, a general physician at Mulago Hospital. It’s the feet affected at the start because they are the ones usually in contact with dust.
“At the start, the itching is just like any other but gets intensive with time and obviously, because of its size, the victim will not see this small organism,â€Bukenya says.
Then a tiny black dot appears on the skin at the point of penetration. The female flea by then has burrowed into the host’s skin and attached to the skin by clawing its mouth into the epidermis.
Hence, the posterior end of the flea sticks out and through it the parasite inhales and excretes while the head is within the skin, feeding on the host.
Bukenya explains that within 72 hours of breaking into the skin, a peaked swelling materialises because the female tunga has formed larvae. It can be as wide as two centimetres in diameter or more.
“The size depends on the rate at which the female parasite lays the eggs, the more the eggs laid, the bigger the size of the swelling.†As the parasite lays eggs, it feeds on the host’s blood and other body liquids.
“Though they commonly affect the feet, jiggers can affect any other body parts as well,†Bukenya notes.
So what conditions favour jiggers?
Dr. Joseph Wamala, an epidemiologist in the surveillance department at the ministry says generally, poor hygiene and sanitation, sharing accommodation with animals, dusty floors, and areas with sandy soils are the core predisposing factors for jigger multiplication.
“As regards hygiene, people who hardly wash their beddings or rarely bathe, are at a high risk of suffering jigger infestation. What’s more, poor disposal of both human and animal waste favours their development.â€
Additionally, Bukenya explains that the materials used to make the floors in rural areas can provide favourable conditions for jigger multiplication. “Some people mix sand with cow dung and these two are a recipe for jigger infestation.â€
But an elderly retired primary school teacher in western Uganda explains that the problem can only occur if cowdung is used and left for a long time without resealing because then it turns into dust, a good breeding condition for fleas.
But smearing the floor regularly with cowdung and allowing no dust accumulattion is the best way to chase away fleas and jiggers in rural areas where there are no cemented floors, he explains.
Wamala also explains that areas with sandy soils are good breeding places for fleas. “The female tunga Penetrans lays eggs in the sand where it multiplies.â€
Animals carry fleas in their fur so sharing a house with them also aids jigger multication.
Jazeera’s story
It’s a sweet sensation! Well, that is only at the start, but when the pain sets in, even walking for few inches spells extreme pain. I spent part of my childhood in Iganga with my grandmother at a place called CMS.
Getting jiggers was the order of the day since we often played in dust. Once a week, she would extract them but not without screams and kicks because of the extreme pain the exercise caused.
Fast forward 20 years, I read about our people in Busoga battling the same small nasty parasite but this time, with a number of deaths recorded.
We were lucky each time they dug in, we had them extracted. Right now, all I have to show for those days I would actually prefer to call fun days, because we played dawn to dusk in the dust, are a few prominent black spots under my feet, the scars left behind after their extraction.