China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Mosquitoes
Published in Jerome Goddard, Public Health Entomology, 2022
Lymphatic filariasis. Several species of nematode worms may cause lymphatic filariasis, an important human mosquito-borne disease occurring in much of the world (Figure 9.8). Malayan filariasis, caused by Brugia malayi, is mostly confined to Southeast Asia, and the Bancroftian form, Wucheria bancrofti, is prevalent over much of the tropical world. In 2000, the WHO estimated that 120 million people were infected with Bancroftian or Brugian filariasis, with an additional 1.34 billion persons at risk.11 That number is now significantly lower due to mass drug administration using ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, and other compounds.12 In the Western Hemisphere, 80% of lymphatic filariasis occurs in Haiti, likely imported from Africa with the slave trade.13 Human filariasis is transmitted solely by mosquitoes, and there is no multiplication of the parasite, only development, in the mosquito vector. In addition, the adult worms may live up to 10 years in humans.14
Management of Conditions and Symptoms
Published in Amy J. Litterini, Christopher M. Wilson, Physical Activity and Rehabilitation in Life-threatening Illness, 2021
Amy J. Litterini, Christopher M. Wilson
Although commonly observed in cancer survivors, 85% of individuals with advanced non-cancer diagnoses at the end of life have reported the presence of edema among 277 survey respondents from China.46 Extreme generalized edema, referred to as anasarca, is widespread edema throughout the body most often occurring as a result of major organ failure. A separate global health concern arising from a different etiology, lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a swelling condition caused by infection with filarial parasites transmitted by mosquitoes, which is estimated to impact 40 million individuals worldwide.64 The parasitic infection of the lymphatic vessels disrupts normal lymphatic function resulting in increased risk for infection, and lymphedema and/or hydrocele, and in severe cases, disfiguring elephantiasis. The world regions most significantly impacted by LF include the continent of Africa, the Caribbean Islands, South America, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific.64
Equity in health services and policy advice for developing countries
Published in Songül Çınaroğlu, Equity and Healthcare Reform in Developing Economies, 2020
Tropical diseases – the infectious diseases that thrive in hot and humid conditions, such as malaria, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis (WHO Health Topics, 2019) – are common problems in poor countries. The economic burden of tropical diseases is high in households and societies because of the high costs of medical care and loss of income (WHO, 2015). Overcoming these diseases would improve economies and development. The establishment of UHC with essential healthcare interventions against tropical diseases, which tend to be overlooked in developed countries, would help achieve global healthcare equity for vulnerable people, as well as for wealthy people; for marginalized people, as well as for privileged people; for the old, as well as for the young; and for women, as well as for men (WHO, 2015).
Deciphering the anti-filarial potential of bioactive compounds from Ocimum sanctum: a combined experimental and computational study
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2022
Ayushi Mishra, Vipin Kumar, Anchal Singh
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a major health concern of tropical and sub-tropical countries. The disease is caused by three nematode worms: Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori. Presently 893 million people in 49 countries are living at the risk of LF (Cromwell et al. 2020). The World Health Organisation (WHO) sponsored the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) and recommends Triple Drug Therapy to block the transmission of Lymphatic Filariasis. The triple drug therapy comprises drugs ivermectin (IVM), diethylcarbamazine (DEC), and albendazole which have to be administered to the entire population living in endemic areas. These drugs are effective only on the larval stages and are completely ineffective on adult worms (Wadhawan et al. 2014). Several adverse effects are associated with anti-filarial drugs which include fever, headache, myalgia, fatigue, hypertension, vomiting, cough, seizures, vision problems, etc. (Behera and Bhatnagar 2018). Hence, there is an urgent need to find anti-filarial drugs with adulticidal activity and minimal side effects.
Lymphatic filariasis vaccine development: neglected for how long?
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2021
Vivek P Chavda, Anjali Pandya, Sreeranjini Pulakkat, Moinuddin Soniwala, Vandana Patravale
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease that causes the damage of the lymphatic system and can lead to lymphoedema (elephantiasis) and hydrocele (excess fluid inside the human scrotal sac) in infected individuals’ [1]. The filarial parasites that cause this infection are carried by mosquitoes. Invasion from parasitic nematodes (roundworms or helminths) of the family Filariodidea, such as Wuchereria bancrofti (W.bancrofti), Brugia malayi (B.malayi), or Brugia timori, causes the disease [2,3]. LF affects the lymphatic system and can cause abnormal growth of bodily parts, resulting in discomfort, physical disability, and social stigma. More than 198 million people were infected globally in 2000, approximately 130 million people in 2014, while the 2018 projection of approximately 51 million infected people indicates the progress made thus far toward the eradication of LF as a public health burden due to implementation of chemotherapy in 2000 [4]. LF continues to endanger 859 million people in 50 countries all over the world, necessitating preventative treatment to halt the spread of such a parasitic disease. The annual benchmark estimation of LF patients suggests 25 million males having hydrocele and over 15 million persons with lymphedema. At least 40 million individuals continue to suffer from these chronic illness symptoms [5]. Preventing LF could help to reduce possible suffering and stigma among the vulnerable underprivileged population.
Controlling Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens pallens using silver nanoparticles synthesized from aqueous extract of Cassia fistula fruit pulp and its mode of action
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2018
Hatem Fouad, Li Hongjie, Dawood Hosni, Jiqian Wei, Ghulam Abbas, Hassan Ga’al, Mo Jianchu
People may contract debilitating and life-threatening diseases due to bites from infected mosquitoes. As mosquito vectors are solely responsible for transmitting diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis and lymphatic filariasis [1,2]. Among all, malaria remains a serious public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries, affecting millions of individuals annually. In Southern China, major endemic cases were reported for falciparum malaria [3]. The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is highly anthropophilic and a day-biter mosquito which resides in peri-domestic habitats, serving as important vector of arboviruses throughout the world [4]. Similarly, Culex mosquitoes are painful and persistent biters that are responsible for lymphatic filariasis (which is a neglected tropical disease). The infection occurs when filarial parasites are transmitted to humans through mosquitoes [5,6]. Currently, more than 1.4 billion people in 73 countries are living in areas where lymphatic filariasis is transmitted and a bigger population is at the risk of being infected [2]. Furthermore, the recent outbreak of Zika virus infections, occurring in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, represents the most recent of four arrivals of important arboviruses in the Western Hemisphere. Zika virus follows dengue which slyly arrived in the hemisphere over decades and became more aggressive in the 1990s, West Nile virus emerged in 1999 and chikungunya emerged in 2013. Notably, there are no specific treatments for these arboviruses [7].