Category: lymphatic filariasis

  • Towards a broader definition of value: why we underestimate the benefits of progress on NTDs

    Towards a broader definition of value: why we underestimate the benefits of progress on NTDs

    Makiese is a farmer and grandmother from Kongo-central, Democratic Republic of Congo. Here she is seen taking treatment to prevent the NTD, river blindness. Credit: © Moses Sawasawa/Sightsavers Recent progress towards the control, elimination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) provides inspiring examples of what can be achieved in global health through collaboration, coordination…

  • How to effectively deliver drugs on a mass scale

    How to effectively deliver drugs on a mass scale

    Narayanpur Health Post, Dang Valley: medications stored in the health facility. Supplies of Albendazole, for distribution in the LF program. Over 1 billion treatments for neglected tropical diseases have been given through mass drug administration campaigns. The success of mass drug administration (MDA) is dependent on high coverage, and high numbers such as these provide…

  • Seeking and sourcing safe, fast acting macrofilaricides

    Seeking and sourcing safe, fast acting macrofilaricides

    Onchocerca volvulus (female and smaller male), boy with a nodule caused by onchocerciasis, second lymphatic filariasis causing gross swelling of the leg, an insect cell (red spheres are the cell nucleus) infected with Wolbachia (green spheres). Sources, Mark Taylor, Mark Taylor, Ted Bianco, Mark Taylor respectively. The filarial diseases, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis…

  • Albendazole for lymphatic filariasis… direct hit or misfire?

    Albendazole for lymphatic filariasis… direct hit or misfire?

    Albendazole tablets used in lymphatic filariasis treatment programs. https://www.flickr.com/photos/prefeituradeitapevi/33462574864 Lymphatic filariasis Lymphatic filariasis, a disease common in tropical and subtropical areas, is spread by mosquitoes and caused by infection with parasitic filarial worms. Once infected, larval worms grow into adult worms and mate to produce microfilariae (mf). The mf are then collected by mosquitoes during…

  • A new cure for river blindness and elephantiasis

    A new cure for river blindness and elephantiasis

    Lymphatic filariasis patient (Copyright: Mark Taylor, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) Onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that cause severe disability and affect more than 106 million people, according to the latest reports from WHO. These two NTDs are caused by parasitic roundworms, the filarial nematodes Onchocerca volvulus (onchocerciasis),…

  • Maternal filarial infection impacts childhood susceptibility to infection

    Maternal filarial infection impacts childhood susceptibility to infection

    Elephantiasis due to lymphatic filariasis infections. Source: Wikimedia Commons Wuchereria bancrofti Lymphatic filariasis is a Neglected Tropical Disease that currently threatens 856 million people across 52 countries. It is usually acquired in childhood and, whilst people often remain asymptomatic on the outside, it does damage the lymphatic system. In chronic cases, it can lead to…

  • Bringing the lab into the field

    Bringing the lab into the field

    Many technologies get smaller, cheaper and better over time. From transistor radios to boom boxes to Discman to the iPod to now.  Portable music players have undergone a transition like many other technologies, reducing costs, improving speed, and capable of doing more. The evolution of  technology is coming into its own in a new interpretation…