Lymphatic filariasis can be treated and controlled in a number of ways, including medications, preventive chemotherapy programs, and vector control. Several medications can be taken to kill the parasite's microfilariae and some though likely not all adult worms. Side effects of the drugs can sometimes be worse if an individual has co-infections with other diseases, so different regions are recommended to receive different treatment combinations. Some research also indicates that taking milligrams a day of doxycycline can help kill adult worms, though it is not yet a first-line treatment option recommended by the World Health Organization.
To prevent the spread of lymphatic filariasis, a combination of medications are often given routinely and proactively to everyone in a given area—regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with the condition. While this won't cure everyone who has lymphatic filariasis or its various complications, it can help prevent the spread of the parasite because it effectively eliminates the microfilariae that can be carried by mosquitoes and passed from person to person.
Mosquitoes are integral to the transmission of lymphatic filariasis, and other harmful pathogens like malaria , West Nile virus , and dengue fever , so reducing their populations and warding against bites is an important prevention strategy.
While this likely won't eliminate lymphatic filariasis entirely, it can help reduce the chances someone becomes infected with the parasite. Cancer centers often offer therapy for lymphedema that involves specialized wraps and massages. Lymphatic filariasis is extremely rare in North America and Europe. In order to become infected with the parasite, you have to be bitten by infected mosquitoes repeatedly and over a long period of time. If you're just making short-term trips to areas where lymphatic filariasis is common, there's little reason to be concerned about getting sick from the parasite.
Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Centers for Disease Control. Updated March 5, Parasites - lymphatic filariasis frequently asked questions. Updated March 16, World Health Organization. Lymphatic filariasis.
Updated October 6, Babu S, Nutman TB. Immunology of lymphatic filariasis. Parasite Immunol. Santeliz J. International Journal of Respiratory and Pulmonary Medicine. Live Science.
Updated February 21, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Diagnosis. Chaubey describes the fevers he suffers as a result of frequent infections in his affected leg. Money is also a problem. Chaubey borrowed Rs, to pay for the wedding but he still has another two daughters, aged 18 and 16, as well as two sons, 14 and 11, to worry about.
People say a lot of things — I just have to swallow that. God has given me this disease and I have to suffer and live with it. A woman in Uttar Pradesh with early-stage swelling in the foot from lymphatic filariasis. Lymphatic filariasis, known in Hindi as hathipaon — literally, elephant-foot — is estimated to affect about m people in Asia, Africa, Pacific islands and parts of South America and the Caribbean.
Of those affected, about a third are living with visible signs of the disease. The distinctive symptoms have been described in art and literature for millennia. An ancient Egyptian statue depicts Pharaoh Mentuhotep II, who ruled 4, years ago, with swollen lower legs and feet. Pharaoh Mentuhotep II who reigned c. The Greeks and Romans described patients with the symptoms and the Indian physician Sushruta referred to a disease he called shleepada — Sanskrit for elephant foot — in a medical treatise written in around BC.
Explorers in other parts of Asia and Africa gave similar accounts. Life cycle of the parasite that causes lymphatic filariasis. The adult worms that do the damage to the lymphatic system can live inside their human hosts for several years. During this time they breed, producing tiny, threadlike baby worms, or microfilaria, that course through the bloodstream. Mosquitoes ingest the microfilaria when they bite an infected person and the baby worms remain inside the insects for about two weeks, growing into bigger larvae.
When the mosquitoes bite again, those more mature larvae are deposited on to human skin. They burrow into the new human host and grow into adults. Efforts to fight mosquito-borne diseases usually include exterminating the insects or trying to prevent them from biting humans. But, in the case of lymphatic filariasis, public health programmes are instead focusing on killing the parasites inside their human hosts.
This is not an easy task. For lymphatic filariasis, the medicine comes in the form of deworming drugs, which must be taken once a year, every year, for five consecutive years — the estimated reproductive span of the adult female worms. The World Health Organization is determined to stop the spread of lymphatic filariasis, which is present in 73 countries. It has set the world a goal of eliminating the disease by The ultimate goal — eradication — would mean reaching the point where there is no possibility of the disease occurring anywhere in the world.
In human history, only one disease has successfully been eradicated: smallpox. Despite the difficulties, some countries have been successful. China and South Korea were declared filaria-free a decade ago. Elephantiasis is a tropical disease caused by parasitic worms that are spread through mosquito bites. Although medically known as lymphatic filariasis, the term elephantiasis is commonly used because symptoms include swelling and enlargement of the arms and legs. Most people who are infected will not show symptoms, despite damage to the lymph system and kidneys.
People with elephantiasis will have impaired immune function because of damage to their lymph system. They tend to get more bacterial infections of the skin, causing it to become dry, thick, and ulcerated with repeated infections.
Other symptoms during these repeated bacterial infections include a fever and chills. The following 3 types of parasitic roundworms cause elephantiasis:. Wuchereria bancrofti worms cause 90 percent of all cases of elephantiasis. Brugia malayi causes most of the others. Firstly, mosquitoes become infected with roundworm larvae when they take a blood meal from an infected human. Finally, the worm larvae migrate to the lymphatics via the bloodstream and mature in the lymph system.
The regions where these roundworms are found include :. A blood examination will be required to confirm a parasitic infection. In most parts of the world the roundworms are most active at night, so the blood sample must be collected during this time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. Alternative tests may be used to detect the parasites, but they may show negative results because symptoms can develop years after the initial infection.
While this drug does not kill all of the adult worms, it does prevent infected people from giving the disease to someone else. People with lymphedema and elephantiasis are not likely to benefit from DEC treatment because most people with lymphedema are not actively infected with the filarial parasite.
People with lymphedema and hydrocele can benefit from lymphedema management, and in the case of hydrocele surgical repair. Even after the adult worms die, lymphedema can develop.
You can ask your physician for a referral to see a lymphedema therapist for specialized care. Prevent the lymphedema from getting worse by following several basic principles:. Contact Us. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Parasites - Lymphatic Filariasis. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. On This Page What is lymphatic filariasis? How is lymphatic filariasis spread? Who is at risk for infection? What are the signs and symptoms of lymphatic filariasis?
0コメント