Filariasis is a very common disease on the tropical continent. About 1.4 billion people in 73 countries around the world are constantly at risk of this disease. And about 40 million have already become disabled as a result of it.
This disease can cause changes in the lymphatic system and provoke an abnormal expansion of any part of the body, causing pain, disfiguring and making normal life impossible.
Filariasis - what is it? How can you alleviate the condition with this disease and prevent its occurrence? We will try to answer these questions in this article.
How filariasis occurs
Lymphatic filariasis is known worldwide as elephantiasis. It is provoked by parasites - filariae, transmitted by blood-sucking insects (mosquitoes, ticks, mosquitoes, horseflies, etc.).
Insects, in turn, are the transmission link between a sick vertebrate and a he althy person. Together withWith infected blood, microfilariae, living larvae, enter the stomach of bloodsucking animals, which then migrate through the wall of the stomach into the muscles of the insect, where they become infective larvae. At this stage of development, they already penetrate the oral cavity of their temporary host and, during the next bite, break through his proboscis, ending up on human skin.
Through small wounds or cracks, they enter the blood vessels and after the last molt become sexually mature helminths. This is how filariasis develops (you can see a photo of those suffering from this disease in the article). By the way, filaria live up to 17 years.
What causes the development of the disease
Interestingly, both microfilariae and adults do not cause much harm to the human body, but their death triggers the host's immunoallergic reaction. By the way, if there were few described helminths in the body, from which few sexually mature worms developed, then an infected person may not feel that he was overtaken by filariasis. Symptoms of the disease in such cases do not appear.
In extreme cases, a carrier of helminths may, many years after a trip to the tropics, when these parasites have already died, develop some kind of disease that has an erased clinical picture.
And the inhabitants of tropical countries, who are constantly bitten by blood-sucking insects, over the years become the owners of a huge number of parasites. Their children, born from sick mothers, retain tolerance to infection for a long time, but over time, when the "uninvited guests" begin todie in large numbers, the immune system reacts to the decaying bodies of helminths with increasing force. Lymphatic vessels become inflamed, their walls thicken, growths appear on them, which interfere with the normal movement of the lymph, causing its stagnation and huge swelling.
Filariasis: symptoms of the disease at different stages
Lymphatic filariasis can be asymptomatic, acute or chronic. And most often the disease proceeds imperceptibly for the patient, without showing itself in any way. The incubation period can last from 4 months to 2 years. But even at this time, parasites injure the lymph nodes and blood vessels, and the products of their vital activity gradually poison the body of an infected person.
- In the first stage of the disease called filariasis, the symptoms are manifested by fever, as well as an allergic reaction, most often in the form of a rash on the hands. Enlarged lymph nodes are observed (they change their shape and become painful), mastitis and bronchopneumonia occur.
- At the second stage of the disease (it occurs between 2 and 7 years from the onset of infection), the patient develops varicose veins and inflammation of the lymphatic vessels. Sometimes there are ruptures, accompanied by the appearance of signs of chyluria (milky color and gelatinous consistency of urine), chylous ascites (lymphatic fluid accumulates in the abdominal cavity) and chylocele (the appearance of a tumor containing lymph).
- At the third (obstructive) stage of the disease developselephantiasis of the lower limb, and sometimes the genitals.
Filariasis of the urinary system
Obstruction of the lymphatic ducts leads to the formation of lymphodema (reversible swelling of the soft tissues), which most often affects the legs, but in some cases, as already mentioned, the genitourinary system. At the same time, the patient periodically has a fever, he feels weakness and malaise. These conditions are regular and last up to 15 days.
In men, an inflammatory process develops in the spermatic cords and testicles, which is expressed by painful sensations. Due to the expansion of the lymphatic vessels in the kidneys and bladder, lymph begins to flow into the urine, staining it in a milky white color.
In parallel with the mentioned processes, compensatory (bypass) ways for lymph outflow develop, and the edema disappears. But if the disease is not treated, and more and more parasites continue to enter the body, then the condition passes into an irreversible stage (elephantiasis), in which even the complete destruction of all parasites does not eliminate elephantiasis.
Symptoms of filariasis appear in individuals without microfilariae in the blood
Since visitors do not have immunity, which is formed in local residents since childhood, their disease begins to progress much faster. Both lymphedema (reversible soft tissue swelling) and elephantiasis can develop in tropical travelers as early as 6-12 months.
By the way, microfilariae are no longer found in the blood of such patients, sohow filariasis manifests its symptoms only as an immune response, which means that the more pronounced they are, the less parasites in the blood.
How to diagnose filariasis
Since elephantiasis is a disease mainly of the inhabitants of the tropics, in Russia doctors rarely have to deal with the full picture of this pathology, which is expressed in severe lesions of the lymphatic apparatus, organs of vision, skin and genitourinary system. And it is rather difficult to differentiate the early stage of the disease, since the intensity of its manifestations is too low.
And yet, how do doctors determine that a person has filariasis? Diagnostics in developed countries includes a 10-minute rapid test that detects wuhereria (it is currently considered the gold standard diagnostic). But in our country, alas, such studies are very difficult.
Treatment of filariasis
It should be noted right away that elephantiasis is not easy to treat. Even if all parasites are eliminated, irreversible changes remain in the body.
In the genital form of the disease, a significant improvement is observed after special operations. And it is very problematic to return the legs to their former shape. Patients get some relief after courses of massage that activates the flow of lymph, or when wearing compression stockings.
When filariasis is diagnosed, treatment is carried out with the help of diethylcarbamazine preparations (Ditrazin, Banocid, etc.), which cause the death of parasites. They are taken for a week or 10 days, but these drugs can cause a severe allergic reaction, whichmakes them difficult to use.
The mass death of helminths also leads to a deterioration in the patient's condition, so the treatment is carried out according to a special scheme: they combine the intake of these drugs with steroids, other antiparasitic drugs, as well as with the antibiotic "Doxycycline", which gives a good effect.
Prevention of filariasis
If you find yourself in the tropics, the main thing is to avoid the bite of blood-sucking insects both indoors and outdoors. In the room, they are disposed of with the help of fumigators, bed and window nets and air conditioners. When going outside, you need to wear long-sleeved clothes, and apply repellent to unprotected areas of the body.
In foci with a strong spread of the disease, doctors recommend taking drugs with diethylcarbamazine at the rate of 10 mg per kilogram of body weight for 2 days every month.
Thanks to the above measures, you will not be threatened by filariasis. Symptoms, photos of patients and other unpleasant moments that were provided in this article will not be able to poison your memories of traveling to the tropics. Stay he althy!
