#elephantiasis

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India, 1990 Kozhikode, Kerala, India. インド ケララ州 コーリコード Photography by Michitaka Kurata

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Brazil eliminates lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Brazil for having eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem.

“Eliminating a disease is a momentous accomplishment that takes unwavering commitment,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “I congratulate Brazil for its efforts to free its people of the scourge of this painful, disfiguring, disabling and stigmatizing disease. This is another example of the incredible progress we have made against neglected tropical diseases and gives hope to many other nations still fighting against lymphatic filariasis that they too can eliminate this disease.”

Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a debilitating parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes. For centuries, this disease has afflicted millions worldwide, causing pain, chronic, severe swelling, serious disability, and social stigmatization.

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Brazil eliminates lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Brazil for having eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem.

In Brasilien sind die Fälle von Elephantiasis so stark zurückgegangen, dass die Krankheit nun kein gesellschaftlich relevantes Problem mehr darstellt.

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Insider Interference

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Elephantiasis, or lymphatic filariasis, is a disfiguring and painful disease affecting millions throughout the tropics and sub-tropics. It is caused by a parasitic worm transmitted through insect bites, and improved treatment and prevention is much needed. The parasite establishes a chronic infection by manipulating the immune system. Researchers examined how, during an early stage of the life cycle, the parasite infiltrates cells with extracellular vesicles – small packages of dangerous chemicals. They found that these vesicles (green) are absent from the surface of immune cells (red, left), but were absorbed fully inside (middle), with some even appearing in the cell control centre, the nucleus (blue, right). Once inside, they interfere with essential molecular pathways, hampering the immune cells’ attempts to ward off the infection like an undercover spy scheming behind enemy lines. Preventing this infiltration could empower the body’s defences, and provide new strategies to prevent and manage the disease.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Image adapted from work by Alessandra Ricciardi and colleagues

Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, January 2021

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Diseased skin on the face of a patient suffering from elephantiasis graecorum or true leprosy, with the knee and thigh of another sufferer, shown below. Chromolithograph by E. Burgess, 1850/1880.

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Animal Parasites and Human Disease by Asa Crawford Chandler, 1918

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Coincidence?