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Targeting wolbachia, doxycycline reduces pathology of lymphatic filariasis
September 20, 2006Lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne tropical disease that afflicts 120 million people worldwide, can cause debilitating swelling of the legs and genital areas. According to a new study published in the open access journal PLoS Pathogens, these pathologies can be treated with doxycycline, a tetracycline antibiotic. The treatment works by targeting Wolbachia bancrofti, a bacterial symbiote of the microscopic parasitical worms responsible for the disease.
Existing treatments for lymphatic filariasis kill the larvae of these worms, an effective measure against transmission, but offer only partial relief for people with adult worms in their blood. The studies suggest that doxycycline, which is already approved for human use, could provide an ameliorating treatment for persons suffering from the ailment, though mass treatment may still be a long way off.
Dr. Achim Hoerauf (University of Bonn, Germany) and colleagues used a double-blind trial in Ghana as the foundation of their report. In the course of the research, which was supported by grants from the European Commission and the VW-Foundation, 200 mg/day of doxycycline was administered to a sample group for a six week period. Follow ups at 4, 12, and 24 months showed a reduction in the pathology of the disease and an improvement in the condition of infected individuals.
Public Library of Science
Public Library of Science
Lymphatic Filariasis Current Events and Lymphatic Filariasis News RSSWorm genome offers clues to evolution of parasitism
The genome of a humble worm that dines on the microbial organisms covering the carcasses of dead beetles may provide clues to the evolution of parasitic worms, including those that infect humans, say scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Germany.
No more big stink: Scent lures mosquitoes, but humans can't smell it
Mosquito traps that reek like latrines may be no more. A University of California, Davis research team led by chemical ecologist Walter Leal has discovered a low-cost, easy-to-prepare attractant that lures blood-fed mosquitoes without making humans hold their noses.
Groundbreaking research shows DEET's not sweet to mosquitoes
Spray yourself with a DEET-based insect repellent and the mosquitoes will leave you alone. But why? They flee because of their intense dislike for the smell of the chemical repellent and not because DEET jams their sense of smell, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.
Fuzzy logic water quality
A fuzzy logic approach to analyzing water quality could help reduce the number of people in the developing world forced to drink polluted and diseased water for survival.
Study finds doxycycline effective against filariasis in Southeast Asia
Doxycycline alone is more effective against the most common form of filariasis in Southeast Asia than the standard treatment, with significantly fewer side effects, according to a new study published in the May 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and currently available online.
Neglected tropical diseases burden those overseas, but travelers also at risk
Though little known to most Americans, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and other so-called neglected tropical diseases are responsible for severe health burdens, especially among the world's poorest people.
Parasitic tropical diseases in the Americas, a legacy of slavery, can be eliminated
Although it has been speculated for more than a century that the slave trade was responsible for bringing many tropical diseases to the Americas, only recently has convincing evidence shown that lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), schistosomiasis, and onchocerciasis (river blindness) originated in this way.
Waterborne infectious diseases could soon be consigned to history, says expert
Waterborne infectious diseases, which bring death and illness to millions of people around the world, could largely be consigned to history by 2015 if global health partnerships integrate their programmes.
Global program to eliminate elephantiasis has early success in Egypt
Organizers of a 20-year global effort to eliminate a parasitic infection that is a leading cause of disability have an early victory to savor: a five-year Egyptian elimination campaign has mostly succeeded. Infection with the parasites, threadlike filarial worms, can lead to the dramatic, disfiguring swelling known as elephantiasis.
Controlling neglected tropical diseases could help make poverty history
"The big three" infections AIDS, TB and malaria have caught the world's attention but other disabling and fatal infectious diseases in Africa are being ignored, say three eminent tropical disease researchers in the international health journal PLoS Medicine.
More Lymphatic Filariasis Current Events and Lymphatic Filariasis News Articles
 | Lymphatic Filariasis (Tropical Medicine - Science and Practice , Vol 1) |
 | Controlling Intestinal Helminths while Eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis (Parasitology) The WHO Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) was launched in 1998, and this volume focuses on the importance of the GPELF for tropical public health and social and economic wellbeing. Written by experienced scientists and fieldworkers, the volume examines the tools for treatment and prevention of lymphatic filariasis, including albendazole, ivermectin and DEC salt, and... |
 | Lymphatic Filariasis: The Quest to Eliminate a 4000-year Old Disease by Malcolm Dean It is one of the oldest and most debilitating diseases in the world. The National Museum of Japan has wood-block illustrations, made 1,200 years ago, of the gross disfigurement generated by the disease. It remains today the second leading cause of permanent and long-term disability. Yet few people know its name lymphatic filariasis and even fewer know how to pronounce it. This writer had to... |
| Control of Lymphatic Filariasis by World Health Organisation | |
| Endpoints for lymphatic filariasis programs.(DISPATCHES): An article from: Emerging Infectious Diseases by Caroline A. Grady, Madsen Beau de Rochars, Abdel N. Direny, Jean Nicolas Orelus, Joyanna Wendt, Jeanne Radday, Els Mathieu, Jacquelin M. Roberts, Thomas G. Streit, David G. Addiss, Patrick J. Lammie This digital document is an article from Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 2264 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle:... | |
 | The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Lymphatic Filariasis: A Revised and Updated Directory for the Internet Age by Icon Health Publications This book has been created for patients who have decided to make education and research an integral part of the treatment process. Although it also gives information useful to doctors, caregivers and other health professionals, it tells patients where and how to look for information covering virtually all topics related to lymphatic filariasis (also bancroftian filariasis; Filarial Elephantiasis;... |
| Lymphatic Filariasis: the Disease and Its Control (Technical Report) by WHO Expert Committee on Filariasis | |
| Biology of elephantiasis, lymphatic filariasis and albendazole: Index of new information by John C Bartone | |
| Lymphatic Filariasis (Technical Reports) by World Health Organization | |
| A simple technique for preoperative reduction of lymphoedema.(Case report): An article from: Indian Journal of Surgery |
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