Filariasis: symptoms and treatment regimens

Filariasis is a very common disease in the tropical continent. About 1.4 billion people in 73 countries around the world are constantly at risk of this ailment. And about 40 million as a result of it have already become disabled.

This disease can cause changes in the lymphatic system and cause an abnormal enlargement of any part of the body, causing pain, disfiguring and making it impossible for ordinary human life.

Filariasis - what is it? How can you alleviate the condition with this disease and prevent its appearance? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

How does filariasis occur?

Lymphatic filariasis in the world is known as an elephant disease. It is provoked by parasites - filarians transmitted through bloodsucking insects (mosquitoes, ticks, mosquitoes, horseflies, etc.).

Insects, in turn, are the transfer link between a sick vertebral and a healthy person. Along with the infected blood, microfilariae enter the stomach of bloodsuckers - living larvae, which then migrate through the wall of the stomach into the muscles of the insect, where they become invasive larvae. At this stage of development they already penetrate into the oral cavity of their temporary host and during the next bite break through its proboscis, appearing on the human skin.

Through small wounds or cracks, they enter the blood vessels and after the last moult they become sexually mature worms. So the filariasis develops (photos suffering from this disease you can see in the article). By the way, live filarias to 17 years.

What causes the development of the disease

It is interesting that both microfilariae and adult individuals do not do much harm to the human body, but their death triggers an immune-allergic reaction of the host. By the way, if there were few described helminths in the body, of which a few mature worms have developed, then the infected person may not feel that he was overtaken by filariasis. Symptoms of the disease in such cases do not appear.

In extreme cases, the helminth carrier can, many years after the trip to the tropics, when these parasites are already dying, develop some disease that has an erased clinical picture.

And the inhabitants of tropical countries, which are constantly bitten by blood-sucking insects, over the years become owners of a huge number of parasites. Their children, born from sick mothers, long remain tolerant to infection, but over time, when "uninvited guests" begin to die in large quantities, the immune system reacts more and more to the decomposing helminth bodies. Lymphatic vessels are inflamed, their walls thicken, they appear on the growths, which interfere with the normal progress of lymph, causing it to stagnate and huge swelling.

Filariasis: symptoms of the disease at different stages

Lymphatic filariasis can be asymptomatic, acute and chronic. And most often the disease runs unnoticed for the patient, not manifesting himself in any way. The incubation period can last from 4 months to 2 years. But even at this time, parasites are traumatized with lymph nodes and vessels, and the products of their vital activity poison the body of the infected person little by little.

• At the first stage of the manifestation of the disease called filariasis, symptoms are manifested by fever, as well as by an allergic reaction, most often in the form of a rash on the hands. There are increases in lymph nodes (they change their shape and become painful), mastitis and bronchopneumonia occur.
• At the second stage of the disease (it occurs in the period from 2 to 7 years from the onset of infection), the patient develops varicose enlargement and inflammation of the lymphatic vessels. Sometimes their gaps are observed, accompanied by the appearance of signs of hiluria (milk color and gelatinous consistency of urine), chylous ascites (the lymphatic fluid accumulates in the abdominal cavity ) and chilocele (the appearance of a tumor containing lymph).
• At the third (obstructive) stage of the disease, elephantiasis of the lower extremity develops, and sometimes the genital organs.

Filariasis of the urinary system

Blockage of lymphatic ducts leads to the formation of lymphodema (reversible swelling of soft tissues), in which the legs are most often affected, but in some cases, as already mentioned, the genitourinary system. The patient is occasionally feverish, he feels weakness and malaise. Such conditions are regular and last for up to 15 days.

In men, the inflammatory process in the spermatic cord and testicles develops, which is expressed by painful sensations. In the urine, because of the expansion of the lymphatic vessels in the kidneys and the bladder, lymph begins to flow, staining it in a milky white color.

In parallel with these processes, compensatory (bypass) ways for lymph drainage develop, and the edema passes. But if the disease is not treated, and the body continues to receive more and more parasites, then the state passes into an irreversible stage (elephantiasis), in which even the complete destruction of all parasites does not relieve elephantiasis.

Symptoms of filariasis appear in people without microfilariae in the blood

Since visitors do not have the immunity, which is formed by local residents since childhood, their disease begins to progress much faster. And lymphodema (reversible swelling of soft tissues), and elephantism in those who visited the tropics can develop already in 6-12 months.

By the way, in the blood of such patients, microfilariae are no longer detected, since the filariasis displays its symptoms only as an immune response, which means that the more pronounced, the less parasite 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 complete picture of this pathology, expressed in severe lesions of the lymphatic apparatus, organs of vision, skin and urogenital system. And the early stage of the disease is difficult to differentiate, since the intensity of its manifestations is too small.

And yet, how do doctors determine that a person has a filariasis? Diagnostics in developed countries includes a 10-minute rapid test, revealing vuherereya (it is now considered a gold diagnostic standard). But in our country, alas, such studies are very difficult.

Treatment of filariasis

It should immediately be noted that elephantiasis is not easily treated. Even in the case of removal of all parasites in the body, irreversible changes remain.

In the genital form of the disease, significant improvement is observed after special operations. And the return of the old form is very problematic. Some patients get relief from the massage courses that activate lymphatic flow, or when wearing compression tights.

With the diagnosis of "filariasis" treatment is carried out with the help of diethylcarbamazine ("Ditrazin", "Banocid", etc.), which cause the death of parasites. They are taken within a week or 10 days, but these drugs can cause a strong allergic reaction, which makes it difficult to use them.

The mass death of helminths also leads to a worsening of the patient's condition, therefore the treatment is carried out according to a special scheme: combine the reception of the named preparations with steroids, other antiparasitic agents, and also with the antibiotic "Doxycycline", which gives a good effect.

Prevention of filariasis

If you are in the tropics, the main thing is to avoid the bite of bloodsucking insects both indoors and outdoors. In the room they get rid of them with the help of fumigators, bed and window networks and air conditioners. Going out on the street, you need to wear clothes with long sleeves, and on unprotected areas of the body to apply repellent.

In foci with a strong spread of the disease, doctors recommend taking drugs with diethylcarbamazine at a rate of 10 mg per kilogram of a person's weight for 2 days each month.

Thanks to the above measures, you will not be threatened with filariasis. Symptoms, photos of patients and other unpleasant moments that were provided in this article, will not be able to poison you with memories of a trip to the tropics. Be healthy!