JIGGERS DO YOU KNOW WHY THEY ARE VERY DANGEROUS?

A jigger is a small parasitic flea that burrows into the skin of a warm-blooded host before laying eggs. They generally attack feet or hands. At first, the jigger appears as a small black dot on the skin. As the female’s abdomen fills with blood and eggs, a bump forms underneath the skin, which is often painful and itchy and makes walking incredibly difficult.

With her back end still sticking out of the host’s body, the female releases her eggs then eventually dies. But did you know? Only female jiggers burrow into the skin. If left untreated, jiggers can lead to deadly secondary infections or even amputation. People suffering with jiggers usually attempt to remove them with safety pins, thorns, or other sharp, and often unsanitary, objects.

 

Many of the children who join our Kinship Projects in Kenya have jiggers embedded in their feet and hands. And even more people in the community are affected by these dangerous parasites. When you support Agape mission of mercy, you help treat children suffering from painful jiggers, and you make it possible for Kinship Leaders to go out into the community to give others the medical treatment they need as well.

 

Effects of jigger infestation
• High rate of school dropout and poor performance
• Unable to exercise democratic rights, e.g. voting
• Inability to walk easily due to pain in the affected
• Inability to carry out normal day to day activities like
working or playing
• Creates more poverty
• Low self esteem and trauma resulting from the
stigmatization
• Infections such as HIV/Aids and tetanus due to
sharing and use of unsterilized needles
• Disability as people with severe jigger infestation
may loose their limbs
• Jigger related complications may lead to death

Author avatar
Sheldon Osotsi
http://hai.cleandatacenters.africa

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