Lymphatic filariasis
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is an incapacitating and disfiguring neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and B. timori with Hydrocoele, Lymphoedema and Elephantiasis as the major pathological outcomes. Presently 859 million people in 50 countries are threatened by LF. Approximately 65% of these live in the south-east asia region including India where people in 17 states and 6 union territories are at risk of infection. The disease causes untold pain, social and mental stigma, and impairment of the body’s ability to fight infection leading to significant economic loss, reduced productivity and psychosocial effects on the infected individual and the community. Depending on the geographical region, several species of mosquitoes (Aedes, Anopheles, Culex etc.) serve as vectors of LF. Currently available mainstay drugs viz. Diethylcarbamazine (DEC), Ivermectin (IVM) and Albendazole (ALB) are mainly microfilaricidal in nature and exhibit only modest adulticidal activity which means that they are effective in stopping transmission of the disease, but do not kill the adult worm. Though newer strategies based on targeting the Wolbachia endosymbiont which is essential for worm fertility and survival are being studied, vaccine for any filarial parasite is not yet a reality.