Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is endemic in 83 countries and territories, with more than a billion people at risk of infection. Some 120 million people are affected worldwide of whom about 40 million are incapacitated and disfigured by the disease. It is one of the world’s leading causes of permanent and longterm disability1. In 1997, the 50th World Health Assembly resolved that LF should be elimin...

It has been suggested, mostly using in vitro experiments, that defenses against parasites involve mainly activated eosinophils and their toxic proteins, such as major basic protein (MBP), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and eosinophil peroxidase (EPO). Eosinophil degranulation has been described around degenerating onchocercal microfilariae in patients treated with diethylcarbamazine (DEC). I...

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a serious socioeconomic and public health problem due to its morbid condition, social stigma and considerable economic loss. In order to eliminate transmission and to prevent disability due to LF by the year 2015, sixteen districts of Andhra Pradesh have been under mass drug administration (MDA) programme, covering 54 million population with annual single dose of di...

A 7 year-old male presented with recurrent fever, cough and respiratory distress for over last 2 years. Based on extremely high eosinophil count, high Immunoglobulin E, increase in eosinophilic precursors in bone marrow, and positive antigen test for Wuchereria bancrofti, a diagnosis of Tropical Pulmonary Eosinophilia with Eosinophilic Leukemoid Reaction was made. Complete recovery was achieved...

BACKGROUND The global initiative to eradicate bancroftian filariasis currently relies on mass treatment with four to six annual doses of antifilarial drugs. The goal is to reduce the reservoir of microfilariae in the blood to a level that is insufficient to maintain transmission by the mosquito vector. METHODS In nearly 2500 residents of Papua New Guinea, we prospectively assessed the effects...

This paper describes a case of filarial pleural effusion, the fifth such to be reported. Microfilariae of Wuchereria bancrofti were detected in the pleural fluid on cytological examination. There was a prompt and complete response to treatment with diethylcarbamazine. There were, however, no symptoms and signs of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia nor any peripheral eosinophilia.