Learn about testing during pregnancy and more. Trichinosis is a disease caused by a roundworm infection. Learn about its symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and how to prevent it. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. What Is Elephantiasis? Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. What are the symptoms of elephantiasis? What causes elephantiasis? Risk factors for elephantiasis. Diagnosing elephantiasis. How is elephantiasis treated?
Complications of the condition. Read this next. Lymphatic Dysfunction Lymphedema. Medically reviewed by Kevin Martinez, M. It kills microfilariae and some adult worms. Before treating people with diethylcarbamazine, doctors check them for loiasis Loiasis Loiasis is infection of tissues under the skin or under the clear outer membrane that covers the eye conjunctiva with the roundworm Loa loa. Itchy swellings may appear, mainly on the arms It causes itching, a rash, sometimes with scarring, as well as eye symptoms that may lead to blindness.
The infection is spread Chronic swelling requires meticulous skin care. People must be careful not to damage the skin and to thoroughly clean any minor cuts and scrapes. Such care helps prevent bacterial infections. Swelling may be reduced by wrapping elastic bandages around the affected limb or by elevating the limb.
If elephantiasis, including swelling in the scrotum, is severe, surgery may be done to improve drainage in the lymphatic system. Bacterial skin infections are treated with antibiotics given by mouth. The antibiotics may slow or prevent progression to elephantiasis. For lung-related problems, diethylcarbamazine, taken for 14 to 21 days, is effective. However, the infection recurs in about one fourth of people.
For them, treatment must be repeated. Merck and Co. From developing new therapies that treat and prevent disease to helping people in need, we are committed to improving health and well-being around the world.
The Manual was first published in as a service to the community. Learn more about our commitment to Global Medical Knowledge. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. Common Health Topics. Transmission of lymphatic filariasis. Early acute infection Chronic infection. Serum IgE and IgG4 are elevated with active disease. Polymerase chain reaction, which have a high specificity and sensitivity, are also available.
If lymphatic filariasis is suspected, urine should be examined macroscopically for chyluria and then concentrated to examine microscopically for microfilariae.
Chyluria results from obstruction of lymphatic drainage. Obstruction of the inguinal and scrotal lymphatics can be demonstrated and monitored by ultrasound. More recently ultrasonography has been used to detect adult worms in male scrotal lymphatics and lymphoscintigraphy has been used to detect lymphatic changes [ 4 ]. It is important to appreciate that some of the newer and more sophisticated investigation methods may not be available in areas where the disease is endemic. Thus use of peripheral blood smears and immunological tests is the predominant detection method used.
In accordance with current mass drug administration MDA programmes, the mainstay chemotherapy against lymphatic filariasis is combinations of ivermectin and DEC with albendazole [ 1 ]. The programme was very effective and proven to be an excellent investment in global health [ 7 ].
Infect Dis Poverty. Lymphatic Filariasis ; World Health Organization. J Vector Borne Dis. Palumbo E ; Filariasis: diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Acta Biomed. Trop Med Int Health. Hi All, I dont know if anyone has come across this.
This syndrome is typically found in infected persons in Asia. Clinical manifestations of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia syndrome include cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing. The eosinophilia is often accompanied by high levels of Immunoglobulin E IgE and antifilarial antibodies. The standard method for diagnosing active infection is the examination of blood under the microscope to identify the microscopic worms, called microfilariae.
This is not always feasible because in most parts of the world, microfilariae are nocturnally periodic, which means that they only circulate in the blood at night.
For this reason, the blood collection has to be done at night to coincide with the appearance of the microfilariae in the blood. Serologic techniques provide an alternative to microscopic detection of microfilariae for the diagnosis of lymphatic filariasis. Because lymphedema may develop many years after infection, lab tests are often negative with these patients.
Avoiding mosquito bites is the best form of prevention. The mosquitoes that carry the microscopic worms usually bite between the hours of dusk and dawn. If you live in or travel to an area with lymphatic filariasis:.
People infected with adult worms can take a yearly dose of medicine, called diethylcarbamazine DEC , that kills the microscopic worms circulating in the blood. 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.
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