infections
Lymphatic Filariasis
Introduction
Lymphatic filariasis is infection of the Overview of the Lymphatic System caused by one of three species of roundworms. People have a fever, swollen lymph nodes, pain in the limbs and groin, and, if the infection becomes chronic, swelling that can become constant and disfiguring. The infection is diagnosed when doctors identify the worm larvae (microfilariae) in a sample of blood. People are usually treated with the drug diethylcarbamazine, which kills the immature larvae in the blood and some of the adult worms. (See also Overview of Parasitic Infections and Lymphatic filariasis is a filarial worm infection that is a common cause of permanent disability worldwide. About 51 million people were infected as of 2018, and 40 million have been disfigured by the disease. In 2000 the World Health Organization launched itsGlobal Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. As a result, substantial progress has been made in stopping the spread of infection through large-scale, annual treatment of eligible people in areas where infection is present. In 2020, more than 860 million people lived in areas where enough infection was present to require such annual treatment. Lymphatic filariasis is caused by Wuchereria bancrofti:In tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas, including Haiti. Brugia malayiorBrugia timori:In South and Southeast Asia. 