Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis)
Websites/Multiple Documents
| Title: | | Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis) - Wikipedia page |
| Description/subject: | | "Elephantiasis (Greek ελεφαντίασις, from ελέφαντας, "the elphant") is a syndrome that is characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and genitals. Elephantiasis generally results from obstructions of the lymphatic vessels. It is most commonly caused by a parasitic disease known as lymphatic filariasis..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Wikipedia |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 28 April 2006 |
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Individual Documents
| Title: | | Thailand Under Threat |
| Date of publication: | | June 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | How Burma’s dams project could spread disease...
"When Nang A Cha, a Shan migrant, consulted a doctor in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, complaining of a fever and a swollen leg, the physician initially suspected malaria. A blood test ruled that out, but the young laboratory technician was still puzzled by what he saw under the microscope and sent the blood smear to his supervisor, a semi-retired man who had been trained in parasitology about 40 years previously.
He was astounded by what he saw: for the first time in 30 years, he gazed at an old nemesis, an entity believed eradicated from urban Thailand. There was no mistaking the threadlike shadows in the blood smear: Wuchereria bancrofti, the parasite responsible for lymphatic filariasis, more colloquially known as elephantiasis, a term conjuring up images of grotesquely swollen limbs and severe disability.
Lymphatic filariasis is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Once inside the human host, the parasite resides in the lymphatic system, producing larvae which then migrate back to the blood and are subsequently picked up by mosquitoes to continue the infection cycle. Over time, progressive damage to the lymphatics causes obstructions and subsequent swelling from accumulation of lymph..." |
| Author/creator: | | Withaya Huanok, MD |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 6 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 28 April 2006 |
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