Kick Out Jiggers with a Painless 2 Week Treatment

Kick Out Jiggers with a Painless 2 Week Treatment

Understanding Tungiasis

Jigger Disease

Tungiasis is a parasitic skin disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans. Its natural life cycle includes eggs, larvae, and pupae developing in dry soil, but the adult female fleas can also penetrate human or animal skin, feed on blood, and lay hundreds of eggs—causing severe itching, inflammation, ulcers, and in extreme cases, nail loss, auto-amputation, and secondary infections such as tetanus.

First recorded in 1525, tungiasis spread through Africa in the 19th century, and today, the disease is endemic in more than 88 countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, an estimated 668 million people live in environments favorable to flea reproduction, including 304 million in East Africa.

Tungiasis mostly affects impoverished communities with poor hygiene and limited access to medical care. Beyond causing physical pain, it contributes to long-term disability and social stigma.

Treatment Challenges

Traditional treatment methods, such as manually removing fleas using pins or blades, remain common but are painful, risky, and often lead to secondary infections.

Kenya is currently the only country with national clinical guidance on jigger treatment, recommending disinfectant soaking followed by Vaseline application. While safer, this approach still offers limited effectiveness and a slow recovery. Prevention is still the key to fighting the disease.

Preventive Measures Include:

Foot hygiene and regular washing
Wearing shoes
Cleaning and moistening home floors
Keeping fingernails short
Limiting animal access indoors
Using plant-based repellents (e.g., neem, aloe)
Floor sealing and controlled use of insecticides

Event where children have their feet cleaned

See the Product page

Jigger Lotion

A Modern, Painless, 2-Week Treatment

SARAYA began developing Jigger Lotion in 2018 to address the absence of a safe, practical, and effective treatment suitable for low-resource settings. The active ingredient, phenothrin, widely used for scabies treatment, was reformulated to be easy to spread, lightweight, quick-drying, and optimized for field conditions.

Clinical trials in Kenya demonstrated superior early-stage effectiveness and improved pain relief compared to potassium permanganate.

After multi-year regulatory collaboration, Jigger Lotion received marketing approval in Kenya (2021) and manufacturing approval in Uganda (2024).

On August 5, 2024, the lotion was officially launched in Murang’a County, Kenya, where local health authorities, government officials, NGOs, and community organizations recognized it as a game-changer in the treatment of jigger disease. Kenya’s Ministry of Health emphasized its multi-sectoral approach, and NGO Ahadi Trust Kenya introduced the concept of “Pin-less & Painless” treatment as the new standard.