AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 31(5), 1982, pp. 942-952
Copyright © 1982 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Weller, P. F.
Right arrow Articles by Neva, F. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Weller, P. F.
Right arrow Articles by Neva, F. A.

Endemic Filariasis on a Pacific Island

I. Clinical, Epidemiologic, and Parasitologic Aspects*

Peter F. Weller, Eric A. Ottesen, Louis Heck{dagger}, Tingika Tere AND Franklin A. Neva
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205, Division of Infectious Disease, Departments of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, and the Department of Health, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

The clinical and parasitologic aspects of filariasis were investigated in 459 inhabitants of a South Pacific island endemic for subperiodic Wuchereria bancrofti filariasis. Episodes of filarial fevers, usually with concomitant lymphangitis and/or lymphadenitis, were experienced by 26%. Lymphobstructive lesions, manifest in the later decades of life, were present in 12 with elephantiasis and 24 with hydroceles. Microfilaremia was detectable by membrane filtration of 1 ml of blood in 33% of persons, with a quarter of these having less than 50 microfilariae/ml. Microfilaremia and filarial fevers were more frequent in males than females and in residents of the most inland villages. Neither presence nor magnitude of lymphadenopathy correlated with other manifestations of filariasis except that markedly enlarged inguinal-femoral nodes were more common in those with elephantiasis or hydroceles. A history of filarial fevers did not correlate with presence of microfilaremia. Over 70% of adults had microfilaremia and/or historical or physical manifestations of filariasis. The absence of detectable microfilaremia in many residents with clinical evidence of filariasis and the presence of asymptomatic microfilaremia emphasize the limitations in relying only on microfilaremia rates or clinical findings in the study of the prevalence or manifestations of filarial infection.

Accepted for publication December 9, 1981.


* Address reprint requests to: Dr. Peter Weller, Division of Infectious Disease, Beth Israel Hospital, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.


{dagger} Present address: Department of Medicine, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1982 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.