Lexic.us

Definition of Dracunculus medinensis

1. Noun. Parasitic roundworm of India and Africa that lives in the abdomen or beneath the skin of humans and other vertebrates.

Medical Definition of Dracunculus medinensis

1. A species of skin-infecting, yard-long nematodes, formerly incorrectly classed as Filaria; adult worms live anywhere in the body of humans and various semi-aquatic mammals; the females migrate along fascial planes to subcutaneous tissues, where troublesome chronic ulcers are formed in the skin; when the host enters water, larvae are discharged from the ulcers, from which the head of the female worm protrudes; these larvae, if ingested by Cyclops species, develop in the intermediate host to the infective stage; humans and various animals contract the infection from accidental ingestion of infected Cyclops in drinking water. Popularly known as guinea, Medina, serpent, or dragon worm, and frequently thought to be the "fiery serpent" that plagued the Israelites. Origin: L. Of Medina (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dracunculus Medinensis

Literary usage of Dracunculus medinensis

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Twentieth Century Practice: An International Encyclopedia of Modern Medical by Thomas Lathrop Stedman (1896)
"Dracunculus medinensis. The treatment which has beeu employed for the removal of the guinea-worm has been limited, until recently, to the removal of the ..."

2. Diagnosis of Protozoa and Worms Parasitic in Man by Robert William Hegner, William Walter Cort (1921)
"Dracunculus medinensis or the guinea worm. Females, length 50 cm. to 80 cm., width 1.5 mm. to 1.7 mm.; color whitish or yellowish; anterior extremity ..."

3. A Short practice of medicine by Robert A. Fleming (1906)
"Dracunculus medinensis or Guinea-Worm. iis worm is common in West Africa, India, Persia, Arabia, kand elsewhere. It inhabits the connective tissue of e ..."

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