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Glite Dictionary
dracunculiasis

dracunculiasis

9.9
A painful disease caused by a Guinea worm that comes out through the skin after drinking dirty water
  • noun
  • /ˌdrækʌŋkjuˈlaɪəsɪs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dracunculiasis
  • Ensuring safe water supplies is key to controlling dracunculiasis.

Examples

  • One of the most commonly known water-based diseases is dracunculiasis, or guinea worm disease, caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Dracunculiasis can cause severe pain as the dracunculiasis worm emerges from the skin.

  • People in affected regions must avoid drinking contaminated water to prevent dracunculiasis.

  • Education about dracunculiasis is essential to help communities understand its transmission.

Synonyms

Guinea worm disease
vsdracunculiasis
  • Specialized
1 6.6

An infection from drinking water with baby worms that causes painful blisters when the worm comes out

is the scientific term for the same parasitic infection

How Painful

dracunculiasis
  • Specialized
9.9
rabies
  • Specialized
4 3.5
malaria
  • Specialized
113 3.9
influenza
  • Specialized
50 3.3
common cold
17 1.1

Surface Forms

dracunculiasis singular
dracunculiases plural

Morphology

dracunculiasis = Dracunculus (opaque) = dracunculus + iasis

Formed from a taxonomic name for the Guinea worm plus the medical suffix '-iasis'; this specialized formation is not transparent to average learners.

Etymology

The word dracunculiasis comes from the Latin dracunculus 'little dragon' and the ending -iasis 'disease'. The Guinea worm was called a 'little dragon' because the long worm often comes out through the skin, so the name describes this painful worm disease.