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Parasite Causes Elephantiasis - Monsters Inside Me | Animal Planet

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The filariasis parasite is a roundworm called W. bancrofti. It's commonly carried by mosquitoes in the tropics. If kept in your system untreated it can cause massive swelling of the legs and feet, even elephantiasis.

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Alexa Leidy &
Camryn Dodd
Period 10
2/26/17

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http://www.news-medical.net/health/Elephantiasis-Causes.aspx
http://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/diseases-and-conditions/pathology/elephantiasis
http://www.humanillnesses.com/Infectious-Diseases-Co-Ha/Filariasis.html
http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/problems/medical/skin-parasite8.htm
http://www.nvbdcp.gov.in/fil9.html
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/e/elephantiasis/contagious.htm

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Underdeveloped regions found in South America, Central Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean. Found in tropical and subtropical places that are warm. It is estimated that 120 million people in the world have lymphatic filariasis. The disease appears to be spreading, in spite of decades of research in this area.

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First found in the rural parts of Africa. It is a disease that has been present for centuries, as ancient Persian and Indian writings clearly described elephant-like swellings of the arms, legs, and genitals.

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Life saving surgery can be performed to reduce elephantiasis by removing excess fatty and fibrous tissue, draining the swelled area, and removing the dead worms.

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Exercising and elevating a bandaged limb also can help reduce its size.

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General treatment measures include bed rest, elevation of affected limbs and wrapping the limbs in compression bandages. This helps to bring down the swelling. If there are signs of infection, generally the next measure is taking care of the skin on the foot and leg to prevent any infection that may worsen the swelling. The skin should be washed carefully and dried. Nails are clipped and cleaned to avoid injury and inadvertent infection.

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The drug of choice in treating lymphatic filariasis is diethylcarbamazine (DEC). The treatment schedule is typically 2 mg/kg per day, three times a day, for three weeks. The drug is taken in tablet form. Several courses of DEC treatment over a long time period may be necessary to rid the individual of the parasites. DEC has been shown to reduce the size of enlarged lymph nodes and, when taken long-term, to reduce elephantiasis.

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Recovery from filariasis is possible and surgery sometimes helps, but any elephantiasis that develops during the disease cannot be cured.

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Can last a lifetime, and without treatment it can worsen.

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Lymphedema, hydrocele (a buildup of fluid in any saclike cavity or duct) in the scrotum, and elephantiasis of the legs, scrotum, arms, penis, breasts, and vulvae. Over time, the skin on the leg also can change, taking on a rough texture so that it resembles the skin of an elephant.

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Fever, shaking chills, sweating, headaches, vomiting, and pain. Enlarged lymph nodes, swelling of the affected area, skin ulcers, bone and joint pain, tiredness, and red streaks along the arm or leg also may occur. Abscesses can form in lymph nodes or in the lymphatic vessels.

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Most of the symptoms an infected person experiences are due to the blockage of the lymphatic system by the adult worms and due to the substances produced by the worms.

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The disease does not spread from direct person-to-person contact. Instead, it is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. When one of these insects bites someone who is infected, it takes in the parasites along with its meal of blood. The mosquito then can pass those parasites on to the next person it bites. Usually, someone must be bitten many times, typically over a long period, to develop symptoms of filariasis.

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The parasite cycle in the mosquito begins when the microfilariae are picked up by the vector mosquitoes during their feeding on the infected person (microfilaria carrier). The microfilaria in mosquito develops into three stages and under optimum conditions of temperature and humidity; the duration of the cycle in the mosquito (extensive incubation period) is about 10-14 days. When the infective mosquito feeds on other human host, the infective larvae are deposited at the site of mosquito bite from where the infective larvae get into lymphatic system. In the human host, the infective larvae develop into adult male and female worms.

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Color : white
Size and shape: microscopic, slender and round.
Life span: Can live up to a decade, most range from 5-15 years.

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There are eight filarial worms known to affect humans:

Onchocerca volvulus

Mansonella streptocerca

Wuchereria bancrofti

Brugia malayi

Brugia timori

Mansonella ozzardi

Mansonella perstansoccupy

Loa loa

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Elephantiasis, also known as lymphatic filariasis, is an infectious disorder of the lymphatic system that is caused by parasitic worms.