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Public service announcement before reading my comment: Do not Google "Guinea worm." Do not Google "Guinea worm." Do not Google "Guinea worm." If given the al

by patio11 13y ago

Public service announcement before reading my comment: Do not Google "Guinea worm." Do not Google "Guinea worm." Do not Google "Guinea worm." If given the alternative between two courses of action, one of which puts shoes on peoples' feet through "imperialism" and one of which results in them getting Guinea worm, morally serious individuals should not have one iota of doubt as to which is the correct course of action.

incision 13y ago
Alternative course of action: Give directly to something like the Schistosomiasis [0] Control Initiative [1]. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis 1: http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/schistosomiasis-control-initiative http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/schistos...
tnuc 13y ago
And Toms shoes stop these things? I think not. Guinea worms enter the body by drinking bad water. You wear Tom's shoes on your feet not on your fucking mouth! Please take the time to do some research before you tell everyone here you have Tom's Shoes.
hotpockets 13y ago
How do shoes protect against guinea worm transmission? You get guinea worm from drinking contaminated water.
mathgladiator 13y ago
Why on earth would you tell a group of people (which is biased towards rebellious proclivities) not to do something. I wager more people searched for "Guinea worm" after the PSA rather than if it has gone un-said.
- egor83 13y ago
  Having hung around HN and Reddit for a while, I know that if someone tells you NOT to look up something - you really should not. As in, you're better off not looking it up, NSFL tag exists for a reason. Plus, patio11 is well-known here.
eieio 13y ago
I'm not interested in googling "guinea worm" after this post, but I have no idea how this relates to the topic.
- DrStalker 13y ago
  Summary: larvae enters your body, grows into a worm 2 to 3 feet long that lives inside you wriggling around. Removal involves getting hold of one end, tying it around a stick and slowly winding it out while it tries to crawl back in. I'm pretty sure it's contracted from water, not being barefoot. Having shoes helps stop parasites like hookworm from entering your body by being stepped on, since they can't just burrow through the skin of your foot. You probably don't want to look up hookworm pics either; parasites are scary disgusting things.
luke_s 13y ago
I wholeheartedly support your sentiment - we should not avoid trying to solve really bad problems because the solution causes some smaller problems. However, looking through the wikipedia page on guinea worm [1] it seems that people are infected by drinking contaminated water and most of the prevention revolves around filtering water. Its true that part of the worms lifecycle involves infected people stepping in drinking water, but owning shoes is unlikely to prevent that. [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_worm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_worm
- patio11 13y ago
  Sorry, seems I fail my years-ago parasitology bio lesson. I mentally confused Guinea worm and hookworm. You don't want either, shoes prevent against #2 only.
cocoflunchy 13y ago
Do you have more information about the relationship between shoes and Guinea worm? I don't more about it than what I just googled (of course) but it seems to me that the primary cause of contamination is drinking contaminated water, so I'm not sure why it's relevant here. I understand your point though, but is it the best example of disease?
- cocoflunchy 13y ago
  After a little more research, it seems that Guinea worms are on the verge of eradication too, so it's really not the best example. (http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/guineaworm/ http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/guineaworm/)
graeme 13y ago
I couldn't find how shoes prevent guinea worm. Could you elaborate? Wikipedia said that guinea worm is in water. People drink the water, and the parasite makes its way to the leg or foot, and bursts through the skin, causing a burning sensation. People put their foot or leg in water to cool the burning, and eggs enter the water. Cycle repeats.
qzxt 13y ago
You know guinea worm is more frequently contracted from drinking water than through the skin, right?

by patio11 13y ago

incision 13y ago

Alternative course of action: Give directly to something like the Schistosomiasis [0] Control Initiative [1]. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis 1: http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/schistosomiasis-control-initiative http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/schistos...

tnuc 13y ago

And Toms shoes stop these things? I think not. Guinea worms enter the body by drinking bad water. You wear Tom's shoes on your feet not on your fucking mouth! Please take the time to do some research before you tell everyone here you have Tom's Shoes.

hotpockets 13y ago

How do shoes protect against guinea worm transmission? You get guinea worm from drinking contaminated water.

mathgladiator 13y ago

Why on earth would you tell a group of people (which is biased towards rebellious proclivities) not to do something. I wager more people searched for "Guinea worm" after the PSA rather than if it has gone un-said.

egor83 13y ago
Having hung around HN and Reddit for a while, I know that if someone tells you NOT to look up something - you really should not. As in, you're better off not looking it up, NSFL tag exists for a reason. Plus, patio11 is well-known here.

eieio 13y ago

I'm not interested in googling "guinea worm" after this post, but I have no idea how this relates to the topic.

DrStalker 13y ago
Summary: larvae enters your body, grows into a worm 2 to 3 feet long that lives inside you wriggling around. Removal involves getting hold of one end, tying it around a stick and slowly winding it out while it tries to crawl back in. I'm pretty sure it's contracted from water, not being barefoot. Having shoes helps stop parasites like hookworm from entering your body by being stepped on, since they can't just burrow through the skin of your foot. You probably don't want to look up hookworm pics either; parasites are scary disgusting things.

luke_s 13y ago

I wholeheartedly support your sentiment - we should not avoid trying to solve really bad problems because the solution causes some smaller problems. However, looking through the wikipedia page on guinea worm [1] it seems that people are infected by drinking contaminated water and most of the prevention revolves around filtering water. Its true that part of the worms lifecycle involves infected people stepping in drinking water, but owning shoes is unlikely to prevent that. [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_worm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_worm

patio11 13y ago
Sorry, seems I fail my years-ago parasitology bio lesson. I mentally confused Guinea worm and hookworm. You don't want either, shoes prevent against #2 only.

cocoflunchy 13y ago

Do you have more information about the relationship between shoes and Guinea worm? I don't more about it than what I just googled (of course) but it seems to me that the primary cause of contamination is drinking contaminated water, so I'm not sure why it's relevant here. I understand your point though, but is it the best example of disease?

cocoflunchy 13y ago
After a little more research, it seems that Guinea worms are on the verge of eradication too, so it's really not the best example. (http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/guineaworm/ http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/guineaworm/)

graeme 13y ago

I couldn't find how shoes prevent guinea worm. Could you elaborate? Wikipedia said that guinea worm is in water. People drink the water, and the parasite makes its way to the leg or foot, and bursts through the skin, causing a burning sensation. People put their foot or leg in water to cool the burning, and eggs enter the water. Cycle repeats.

qzxt 13y ago

You know guinea worm is more frequently contracted from drinking water than through the skin, right?