What is filariasis disease

However, they damage the lymphatic system and kidneys and alter the immune system. The painful and highly disfiguring manifestations of the disease lymphedema, elephantiasis, and scrotal inflammation appear later on and can lead to rejection and social stigma, with a subsequent loss of self-esteem and fewer job opportunities for infected individuals, which can negatively impact their economic and social conditions.

The disease can be eliminated in the Americas through the simultaneous mass administration of two drugs diethylcarbamazine and albendazole once a year to people living in at-risk areas, over a period of at least five consecutive years.

In areas where the disease is endemic, the recommended preventive measures include the use of screens in windows and doors and mosquito bed nets in homes, as well as the elimination of mosquito breeding sites and application of insecticides in open latrines. Home Fact Sheets Lymphatic filariasis in the Americas. Lymphatic filariasis in the Americas.

Key facts More than million people are infected with lymphatic filariasis worldwide, and some 40 million are disfigured or disabled by the disease. Is transmitted by the bite of a tsetse fly and causes severe neurological disorders. We delivered a revolutionary new drug to replace toxic treatments, and have ongoing trials to eliminate this disease.

Causes heart and vital organ damage, after people are bitten by blood-sucking bugs. Leaves disfiguring, life-long scars that lead to severe social stigma.

Millions are left without treatment even though effective drugs exist. Without treatment, half of children die before their second birthday. Filaria: river blindness. Symptoms, transmission, and current treatments for filarial diseases. Filaria — river blindness. What are filarial diseases? What is river blindness?

What is the impact of river blindness? What are current treatments for river blindness? Ivermectin is safe and has been used widely, however it: Requires many years of repeatedly taking the drug to reduce disease burden and eventually achieve elimination Cannot be used in areas where people also are burdened with high levels of juvenile Loa loa worms, because it can result in safety issues that can be fatal Only partly improves or prevents river blindness symptoms such as itching, dermatitis, and blindness because people continue to be affected by the adult worms living in their bodies.

What new treatments for river blindness are needed? What river blindness treatments are we working on? How do you get river blindness? Insect bites: river blindness is transmitted through the bite of a blackfly infected with Onchocerca volvulus worms What are the symptoms of river blindness? Affected people frequently are unable to work because of their disability, and this harms their families and their communities.

Images: Left: Microfilaria of Wuchereria bancrofti in thick blood smear stained with Giemsa. Laboratory strains of Aedes aegypti can be infected with Brugia.

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