What is human microfilaria?

The adult worm lives in the human lymph vessels, mates, and produces millions of microscopic worms, also known as microfilariae. Microfilariae circulate in the person’s blood and infect the mosquito when it bites a person who is infected. Microfilariae grow and develop in the mosquito.

What causes microfilaria?

Most cases of filariasis are caused by the parasite known as Wuchereria bancrofti. Culex, Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes serve as vector for W. bancrofti in transmission of the disease. Another parasite called Brugia malayi also causes filariasis is transmitted by the vector Mansonia and Anopheles mosquitoes.

What are the types of microfilaria?

Microfilaria Species

Wuchereria bancrofti.
Brugia malayi/timori.
Loa loa.
Unsheathed blood microfilariae.
Unsheathed skin microfilariae.

Is microfilaria a larva?

Microfilaria is the term used to refer to the larva of a certain parasitic nematode, i.e., filariae when it is still in an early larval stage. These parasites are released into the bloodstream of the host by the adult parasites. And hence, these embryonic larvae are usually found in the blood of an infected person.

How common is microfilaria?

Lewis found the microfilariae in blood in 1872. Filariasis is a major social and economic burden in the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Asia, Western Pacific and parts of America. Currently, more than 1.4 billion people in 73 countries are at risk and about 25 million men are afflicted with genital disease [2].

How do I know if I have microfilariae?

The standard method for diagnosing active infection is the identification of microfilariae in a blood smear by microscopic examination. The microfilariae that cause lymphatic filariasis circulate in the blood at night (called nocturnal periodicity).

Does microfilaria cause itching?

In the human body, the adult worms produce embryonic larvae (microfilariae) that migrate to the skin, eyes and other organs. The worms can cause severe itching, disfiguring skin conditions, and blindness or impaired vision.

How do I know if I have microfilaria?

Is microfilaria treatable?

Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) is the drug of choice in the United States. The drug kills the microfilariae and some of the adult worms.

What are the symptoms of microfilaria?

Signs and symptoms

Fever.
Inguinal or axillary lymphadenopathy.
Testicular and/or inguinal pain.
Skin exfoliation.
Limb or genital swelling – Repeated episodes of inflammation and lymphedema lead to lymphatic damage, chronic swelling, and elephantiasis of the legs, arms, scrotum, vulva, and breasts.

Are there worms that look like hair?

Horsehair worms, part of the taxonomic phylum Nematomorpha, are parasitic worms that resemble long thin strands of hair (hence their nickname). The worms have largely featureless bodies because they’re essentially a single “gonad,” as Hanelt puts it.Muh. 7, 1439 AH

Where do filarial worms live?

The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body’s fluid balance and fights infections. Lymphatic filariasis affects over 120 million people in 72 countries throughout the tropics and sub-tropics of Asia, Africa, the Western Pacific, and parts of the Caribbean and South America.

What does microfilaria stand for in medical category?

/mi·cro·fi·la·ria/ (-fĭ-lar´e-ah) [L.] the prelarval stage of Filarioidea in the blood of humans and in the tissues of the vector; sometimes incorrectly used as a genus name. microfilaria. n. pl. The minute larval form of a filarial worm.

Where does a microfilaria live in the body?

The microfilaria is an early stage in the life cycle of certain parasitic nematodes in the family Onchocercidae. In these species, the adults live in a tissue or the circulatory system of vertebrates. They release microfilariae into the bloodstream of the vertebrate host.

How are microfilaria transmitted to a new host?

The microfilariae are taken up by blood-feeding arthropod vectors. In the intermediate host the microfilariae develop into infective larvae that can be transmitted to a new vertebrate host.