Page:Tropical Diseases.djvu/969



MOST itching papular and pustular eruptions are termed kra-kra by the natives of the West Coast of Africa. Dr. John O'Neil describes under this name a pustular affection which he says is common in certain parts of the West Coast, and which he found to be associated with the presence of a filariform parasite in the papules. O'Neil says that this form of craw-craw resembles scabies; but he adds that symptoms subside in a cooler climate, to return, however, when the negro revisits the hot and damp atmosphere of his native country. The papules occur all over the limbs and body, either singly or in rings. In two days from its appearance the papule, he says, becomes a vesicle, and in two more a pustule.

On paring off the top of the papule with a sharp knife, and teasing up the little piece of integument in water, he found a number of minute filaria-like organisms wriggling about with great activity. Their activity speedily slowed down, and in a short time the worms died. These organisms, according to O'Neil's drawings and description, resemble somewhat ''mf. bancrofti''. The measurements, however, do not quite correspond, the craw-craw filaria being shorter and broader ( 1/100 in. by 1/2000 in.) than ''mf. bancrofti;'' moreover, unlike the latter, it presented two black