Lymphatic Filariasis News and Research

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Lymphatic filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic, thread-like worms. The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body's fluid balance and fights infections. Lymphatic filariasis is spread from person to person by mosquitoes.

People with the disease can suffer from lymphedema and elephantiasis and in men, swelling of the scrotum, called hydrocele. Lymphatic filariasis is a leading cause of permanent disability worldwide. Communities frequently shun and reject women and men disfigured by the disease. Affected people frequently are unable to work because of their disability, and this harms their families and their communities.

Study uncovers how schistosome worms trick the host's immune system

Researchers uncovered in a new study how schistosomes, parasitic flatworms that infect more than 200 million people in the tropics, trick the host's immune system and continue producing eggs for decades.

3 Aug 2020

Using genomics to identify promising novel treatment for lymphatic filariasis

Using innovative RNA sequencing techniques, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences identified a promising novel treatment for lymphatic filariasis, a disabling parasitic disease that is difficult to treat.

3 Dec 2019

Common gout medications can kill elephantiasis-causing parasites

Treatment with two common FDA-approved gout medications have been found to cause rapid death to the parasites that cause elephantiasis.

3 Oct 2019

Molecular changes are linked with adverse events following treatment of lymphatic filariasis

The Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis delivers mass drug administration to 500 million people each year, and adverse events are common following treatment. Now, researchers have reported in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases that certain changes in gene expression are associated with these adverse events.

From PLOS ONE 25 Sep 2019

New review on the epidemiology of various parasitic diseases in Malaysia

Malaysia is facing many challenges caused by various parasitic pathogens. The lack of awareness among disadvantaged populations such as the Orang Asli community and the dependency on foreign workers has led to an influx of immigrants to Malaysia from countries endemic with various parasitic diseases.

29 Jun 2019

New anti-Wolbachia drug could potentially treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis

Researchers from LSTM and the University of Liverpool have successfully optimized a hit from a whole cell screening of a 10000-compound library to deliver the first novel fully synthetic and rationally designed anti-Wolbachia drug, AWZ1066S, which could potentially be used to treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis.

8 Jan 2019

WHO revise treatment guidelines of lymphatic filariasis due to CWRU-led study

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have shown that a single "cocktail" of three pill-based anti-parasite medications is significantly more effective at killing microscopic larval worms in people diagnosed with lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, than other standard two-drug combinations previously used in the global effort to eliminate this infectious disease.

9 Nov 2018

LSTM led partnership receives funding to develop drug for treating two neglected tropical diseases

An LSTM led partnership has been awarded nearly £1.5 million from the Medical Research Council for the pre-clinical development of a candidate drug to treat onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, by targeting the bacterial symbiont Wolbachia.

14 Sep 2018

Mosquito screening found to be useful for tracking recurrence of lymphatic filariasis

To ensure elimination of the Wuchereria bancrofti, a parasitic roundworm that causes lymphatic filariasis, public health workers must follow up mass drug administration with careful monitoring for recurrence.

27 Jul 2018

Fruit fly research leads to potential drug for debilitating diseases caused by parasitic worms

River blindness and elephantiasis are debilitating diseases caused by parasitic worms that infect as many as 150 million people worldwide.

13 Jul 2018

Neglected tropical diseases to be tackled in Africa’s poorest communities

World Health Organization and Uniting to Combat NTDs collaborate to tackle the five most common Neglected tropical diseases; onchocerciasis, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis and helminthic infections.

30 Jan 2018

LSTM researchers find new way to reduce treatment for some parasitic diseases

Researchers from LSTM's Research Centre for Drugs and Diagnostics have found a way of significantly reducing the treatment required for lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis from several weeks to seven days. By targeting Wolbachia, a bacterial symbiont that the filarial parasites need to live, the team has discovered a drug synergy that enables effective treatment over a shorter time.

24 Oct 2017

Portable scanner can measure limb disfigurement easily in patients with elephantiasis

An estimated 120 million people worldwide are infected with lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic, mosquito-borne disease that can cause major swelling and deformity of the legs, a condition known as elephantiasis.

16 Oct 2017

WHO announces new flagship programs for African region over next two years

The World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa announced today four new flagship programs for the region over the next two years, including a major push on adolescent health and the creation of regional emergency hubs.

26 May 2017

WHO marching toward extraordinary progress against neglected tropical diseases, report reveals

Since 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been reporting outstanding success in dealing with neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) with 1 billion people estimated to have received treatments in 2015.

19 Apr 2017

People with lymphatic filariasis more likely to acquire HIV infection, study shows

People infected with a parasitic worm called Wuchereria bancrofti in areas where HIV is endemic may be more likely to acquire HIV than people who are not infected with the worm, according to a new study in southwest Tanzania, published in The Lancet.

4 Aug 2016

People with filariasis show two to three-fold increased risk for HIV

Since the start of the HIV epidemic, there have been speculations as to why HIV and the immunodeficiency syndrome it causes have spread so much more in Africa than in other countries around the world.

3 Aug 2016

Scientists identify transposable element in certain bird genomes

In rare instances, DNA is known to have jumped from one species to another. If a parasite's DNA jumps to its host's genome, it could leave evidence of that parasitic interaction that could be found millions of years later -- a DNA 'fossil' of sorts.

21 Apr 2016

PATH and SD/Alere announce commercial availability of two diagnostic tools for NTDs

PATH and Standard Diagnostics/Alere announced today the commercial availability of two rapid diagnostic tools for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. Designed for use in disease surveillance, the antibody-based tests are part of a suite of diagnostic innovations intended to support the elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a group of illnesses that affect more than a billion people worldwide.

12 Apr 2016

Researchers receive Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to eliminate neglected tropical diseases

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at eliminating river blindness and elephantiasis, two neglected tropical diseases that annually sicken millions.

14 Aug 2015