Lymphatic Filariasis
About lymphatic filariasis:
- Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease.
- Infection occurs when filarial parasites are transmitted to humans through mosquitoes.
- Infection is usually acquired in childhood and causes hidden damage to the lymphatic system.
Cause and transmission:
- Lymphatic filariasis is caused by infection with parasites classified as nematodes (roundworms) of the family Filariodidea.
There are 3 types of these thread-like filarial worms:
- Wuchereria bancrofti, which is responsible for 90% of the cases
- Brugia malayi, which causes most of the remainder of the cases
- Brugia timori, which also causes the disease
Symptoms:
- Lymphatic filariasis infection involves asymptomatic, acute and chronic conditions.
- The majority of infections are asymptomatic, showing no external signs of infection while contributing the transmission of the parasite.
- These asymptomatic infections still cause damage to the lymphatic system and the kidneys and alter the body’s immune system.
- Acute episodes of local inflammation involving skin, lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels often accompany chronic lymphoedema or elephantiasis.
- Some of these episodes are caused by the body’s immune response to the parasite.
- Most are the result of secondary bacterial skin infection where normal defenses have been partially lost due to underlying lymphatic damage.
- These acute attacks are debilitating, may last for weeks and are the primary cause of lost wages among people suffering with lymphatic filariasis.
Treatment:
- Elimination of lymphatic filariasis is possible by stopping the spread of the infection through preventive chemotherapy.
- The WHO-recommended preventive chemotherapy strategy for lymphatic filariasis elimination is mass drug administration (MDA).
- MDA involves administering an annual dose of medicines to the entire at-risk population.
- The medicines used have a limited effect on adult parasites but effectively reduce the density of microfilariae in the bloodstream and prevent the spread of parasites to mosquitoes.
Syllabus: Prelims
