What is the vector for the disease filariasis?

A wide range of mosquitoes can transmit the parasite, depending on the geographic area. In Africa, the most common vector is Anopheles and in the Americas, it is Culex quinquefasciatus. Aedes and Mansonia can transmit the infection in the Pacific and in Asia.

What is the pathophysiology of filariasis?

Microfilariae mature into infective larvae within the mosquito. When infected mosquitoes bite people, mature parasite larvae are deposited on the skin from where they can enter the body. The larvae then migrate to the lymphatic vessels where they develop into adult worms, thus continuing a cycle of transmission.

How is filaria transmitted?

How is lymphatic filariasis spread? The disease spreads from person to person by mosquito bites. When a mosquito bites a person who has lymphatic filariasis, microscopic worms circulating in the person’s blood enter and infect the mosquito.

Is filariasis a vector borne disease?

Lymphatic filariasis is a vector-borne disease, being transmitted by mosquitoes (e.g. Culex, Anopheles and Aedes mosquitoes). Infected individuals may be asymptomatic, with no external sign of infection.

What is the best treatment for filariasis?

The main goal of treatment of an infected person is to kill the adult worm. Diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC), which is both microfilaricidal and active against the adult worm, is the drug of choice for lymphatic filariasis. The late phase of chronic disease is not affected by chemotherapy.

How is filariasis detected?

The standard method for diagnosing active infection is the identification of microfilariae in a blood smear by microscopic examination. The microfilariae that cause lymphatic filariasis circulate in the blood at night (called nocturnal periodicity).

What are the signs of filaria?

Symptoms may include itchy skin (pruritis), abdominal pain, chest pain, muscle pain (myalgias), and/or areas of swelling under the skin. Other symptoms may include an abnormally enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomegaly), and inflammation in the affected organs.

What antibiotic treats filariasis?

Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) is the drug of choice in the United States. The drug kills the microfilariae and some of the adult worms. DEC has been used world-wide for more than 50 years.

What are the symptoms of filariasis?

Which antibiotic is best for filariasis?

The antibiotic doxycycline is known to be effective against filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti, but more than half of cases in South-East Asia are caused by Brugia malayi.

Who is the vector for brugia malayi filariasis?

The typical vector for Brugia malayi filariasis are mosquito species from the genera Mansonia and Aedes. During a blood meal, an infected mosquito introduces third-stage filarial larvae onto the skin of the human host, where they penetrate into the bite wound (1). They develop into adults that commonly reside in the lymphatics (2).

Which is the most common vector for lymphatic filariasis?

Vectors of Lymphatic Filariasis. A wide range of mosquitoes can transmit the parasite, depending on the geographic area. In Africa, the most common vector is Anopheles and in the Americas, it is Culex quinquefasciatus.

How does nature limit the spread of filariasis?

Presently 1.3 billion people are at risk of lymphatic filariasis (LF) infection and about 120 million people are affected in 83 countries. In this context it is worth mentioning that ‘nature’ itself limits filarial transmission to a great extent in a number of ways such as by reducing vector populations, parasitic load and many other bearings.

Where are the nematodes of filariasis found?

Filariasis is an infectious disease caused with nematodes of the Filarioidea type e.g. Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, Oncocerca volvulus and Loa loa. These are spread by blood-feeding insects such as black flies and mosquitoes.The filarial worms reside in the subcutaneous tissues, lymphatic system, or body cavities of humans,