Lymphatic Filariasis

I am an energetic filarial worm spread by mosquitos who is still to this day actively looking to spread an infectious disease. I was the first of the mosquito-borne diseases to have been identified so I must keep shining. Mosquitos take the bite and I'm dropped off like the stork that drops off babies. Although those babies may be an easy target for me, I fall on ALL doorsteps, I do not discriminate. Some clients may have symptoms and others may not. Those that have symptoms contract ELEPHANTIASIS. I am 1 of 3 different types of worms - Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori. I nestle within the lymphatic vessels and disrupt the systems normal function. I can survive in the human body for up to 8 years and meanwhile, I produce millions of larvae that circulate through the blood. Months to years after I infect, I die. But first, I trigger an immune response that causes repeated episodes of fever and painful swelling over the lymph nodes. After repeated cycles of inflammation, I cause the extremity to swell to a large size. If I am dropped of by the mosquitos in areas with endemic lymphatic filariasis, I infect people in childhood years and they first get symptoms during their adolescence years. Ways to prevent me and my brothers is by mass deworming. It is done every year for six years to rid the entire population of the disease. The use of bed nets help prevent as well. Although I am locally found in tropical Africa and Asia, I am classified as the carrier for a neglected tropical disease and 1 of 4 main worm infections.

Along with those that I infect, they have damage to their lymph vessels. Once they are dysfunctional like your family, the recirculated lymph fluid causes lymphoedema in the nearest extremity. Skin around the area thickens like molasses, but becomes dry like your elbows. It is discolored, and dotted with wartlike lumps that contain tortuous loops of lymph vessels. If no symptoms are present an allergic reaction to the worm larvae in the capillaries of the lung form. Symptoms of this include night cough, fatigue and weightloss. In other words, I'm a dietary supplement!