filariasis
Table of Contents
filariasis
see also:
introduction
- filariasis are infectious tropical conditions caused by microfilariae (thread-like nematode parasites) belonging to the superfamily Filarioidea, which are spread by blood feeding arthropods such as black flies and mosquitoes.
clinical pictures
lymphatic filariasis
- caused by Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori.
- chronic cases may lead to the disease elephantiasis
subcutaneous filariasis
- caused by loa loa (the African eye worm), Mansonella streptocerca, and Onchocerca volvulus (onchocerciasis / river blindness)
- worms occupy the subcutaneous layer of the skin, in the fat layer.
serous cavity filariasis
- caused by the worms Mansonella perstans and Mansonella ozzardi, which occupy the serous cavity of the abdomen
Dx
- Filariasis is usually diagnosed by identifying microfilariae on Giemsa stained thin and thick blood film smears, using the “gold standard” known as the finger prick test.
- blood must be drawn at the appropriate time of day - night time for Wuchereria bancrofti, day time for Loa Loa
- M. streptocerca and O. volvulus produce microfilarae that do not use the blood, so skin samples are required
filariasis.txt · Last modified: 2012/01/05 04:54 by 127.0.0.1