Increasing concentrations of levamisole and of mebendazole were applied to 1 eye in groups of 4 patients with ocular onchocerciasis in northern Cameroon. No effect resulted from up to 3.0% mebendazole suspensions, but 3.0% levamisole solutions rapidly caused entry of microfilariae, straightening out and subsequent opacification of previously curled-up living microfilariae, the rapid formation o...

Inhibition of Concanavalin A-induced lymphocyte proliferation was used to monitor the partial purification and characterization of suppressor molecules from microfilariae of Brugia malayi. Suppressor activity was present in high molecular weight fractions of microfilarial extracts (Mr greater than 50 kd on SDS-PAGE) and was protease-sensitive but resisted treatment with sodium periodate, indica...

Filariasis is a disabling parasitic disease and the prevalence of lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti is quite high in India. However, W. bancrofti presenting as a subcutaneous swelling and a demonstration of microfilariae in cytological smears from upper extremity lesions is extremely rare. We report a case of 20-year-old male who presented with a small subcutaneous swelling ne...

Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is caused by the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus, which is transmitted by Simulium species black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. In the human host, adult male and female O. volvulus worms become encapsulated in subcutaneous fibrous “nodules” and fertilized females produce embryonic microfilariae (mf) that migrate to the skin, where they a...

Galapagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus) and flightless cormorants (Phalacrocorax harrisi) live in small, isolated populations on the westernmost islands of Isabela and Fernandina in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Between August 2003 and February 2005, 4 field trips, 2 in the cool, dry season (August 2003 and August 2004) and 2 in the hot, rainy season (March 2004 and February 2005), were un...

BACKGROUND The global initiative to eradicate bancroftian filariasis currently relies on mass treatment with four to six annual doses of antifilarial drugs. The goal is to reduce the reservoir of microfilariae in the blood to a level that is insufficient to maintain transmission by the mosquito vector. METHODS In nearly 2500 residents of Papua New Guinea, we prospectively assessed the effects...

OBJECTIVES To characterise and confirm the presence of Mansonella ozzardi microfilariae in the cornea by biomicroscopy and corneal confocal microscopy. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTINGS Clinical practice study in patients from rural communities in Coari city on the Solimões river, Amazonas state, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS The eyes of 212 consecutive volunteer patients were examined using ...

Helminths facilitate their own survival by actively modulating the immune systems of their hosts. We investigated the impacts that different life cycle stages of the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis have on the inflammatory responses of mice injected with sublethal doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mice infected with female adult worms from prepatent infections, worms which have not yet...

BACKGROUND Interactions of the Th2 cytokine IL-33 with its receptor ST2 lead to amplified Type 2 immune responses. As Type 2 immune responses are known to mediate protection against helminth infections we hypothesized that the lack of ST2 would lead to an increased susceptibility to filarial infections. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING ST2 deficient and immunocompetent BALB/c mice were infected ...

Canine dirofilariasis caused by Dirofilaria immitis is usually diagnosed by specific antigen testing and/or identification of microfilariae. However, D. immitis and at least six other filariae can produce canine microfilaremias with negative heartworm antigen tests. Discriminating these can be of clinical importance. To resolve discordant diagnoses by two diagnostic laboratories in an antigen-n...