Lymphatic filariasis

[Ernesto]

Lymphatic filariasis is infection of the lymphatic system caused by one of three species of roundworms.

People have a fever, swollen lymph nodes, pain in the limbs and groin, and, if the infection becomes chronic, swelling that can become constant and disfiguring.
The infection is diagnosed when doctors identify the worm larvae (microfilariae) in a sample of blood.
People are usually treated with the drug diethylcarbamazine, which kills the immature larvae in the blood and some of the adult worms.

(See also Overview of Parasitic Infections and Filarial Worm Infections Overview.)
Lymphatic filariasis is a filarial worm infection that is a common cause of permanent disability worldwide. About 120 million people are infected, and 40 million have been disfigured by the disease. In 2000 the World Health Organization launched its Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. As a result substantial progress has been made in stopping the spread of infection through large-scale, annual treatment of eligible people in areas where infection is present. Lymphatic filariasis is caused by

Wuchereria bancrofti: In tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas, including Haiti.
Brugia malayi or Brugia timori: In South and Southeast Asia.