FILARIASIS ::
Filariasis is caused by wuchereria bancrofti and B. malayi it is transmitted from one person to another by female culex mosquito it has recently been estimated that 91 million indians in urban and 252 millions in rural parts of india are exposed to microfilarial infection As many as 10 millions are suffering from filaria at various stages of disease
Filariasis produces swelling of the legs hands scrotum etc and can affect other parts of the body also Solid oedema develops because microfilaria develops in lymphatics The leg becomes thick like that of an elephant s foot and therefore it is called elephantisis There are recurring attacks of fever and solid swelling of the lymphatic system The worm is slender
Male filaria is shorter than the female it can be seen in the blood collected at night and examined microscopically Recently a very simple method of detection of filariasis has been developed using enzyme linked assay (ELIZA) technique This method has been first developed in india and the test takes only 2 hours Early detection and proper treatment of filariasis is the best way of preventing the spread of the disease
since the culex mosquitoes are the vector they must be destroyed water collections and open gutters are the breeding places They should be dumped and dried other methods for prevention of disease are similar to those mentioned for malaria skin mosquito repellants are also useful
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