Elephantiasis

By: Christine Floro

 What is
Elephantiasis?

Elephantiasis is a disease that causes certain parts of the body

to swell. It damages the tissue under the skin and allows it to
swell to either a miniscule size or as big as a basketball. What
causes the disease are three different types of worms (will be
discussed in Etiology.) Over 120 million people have been
affected and 40 million have died due to the disease. One third
of people with the disease live in India, another one third live in
Africa and the last third of people live in South Asia, the Pacific
and America. 10-50% of men in specific countries and 10% of
women are affected with Elephantiasis. This disease is
commonly found in tropical countries and Africa.
 Etiology

What causes Elephantiasis are three different types of worms

and also by female mosquitoes. The three different types of
worms are Wuchereria bancrofti (parasitic nematode worm),
Brugia malayi (roundworm nematode), and Brugia timori
(human filarial parasite). When these worms are in the body,
they cause the limbs and certain parts of the human body to
swell dramatically. These certain parts include the male
genitals, the female breasts and most commonly the legs. The
female mosquito injects a toxin into the human body and it
destroys it’s tissue. This destruction results in the part infected
to swell.
 Mode of
Transmission

The transmission of Elephantiasis involves the female

mosquito. The female mosquito injects a worm larvae
into a human’s bloodstream whenever they bite them.
The larvae then spreads and lives in the bloodstream
for many years thus leading to why people are infected
with Elephantiasis for many years.
 Symptoms

When infected with Elephantiasis, the symptoms

include a thick, pebbly appearance, the area
which is infected is ulcerated (forming and ulcer)
and the skin appears darkened and also you
experience the fever, chills and malaise (may
sometimes be present.) Other symptoms include
severe swelling, blocked lymph ducts, lots of
swelling in the leg and thickened skin tissue
 Prevention

To prevent Elephantiasis from happening to you, you

should take DEC(a type of medication) to reduce the
number of carrier insects in the area that you are in,
use insect repellants and insecticides, you should
wear protective clothing (i.e. long sleeves, long
pants, hats etc.) and also sleep with bed netting
around so that you don’t get bitten in your sleep.
Also for precautions when traveling, you should talk
with a travel agent to see the precautions that the
country you are travelling to for Elephantiasis.
 Treatments

Elephantiasis treatments include getting

chemotherapy, symptomatic therapy and medicinal
treatments and that include various drugs such as:
Suramin (Antrypol), Diethylcarbamazine (DEC,
Heterazan, Banocide, and Notezine), Ivermectin
(Mectizan), Metrifonate (Trichlorphon), Mebendazole
and Levamisole
 Bibliography

The three resources I used were:

http://elephantiasis/freeyellow.com/
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/
www.mamashealth.com/parinfect/elep.asp