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Loiasis
''Loa loa'' filariasis is a skin and eye disease caused by the nematode worm ''Loa loa''. Humans contract this disease through the bite of a deer fly or mango fly (''Chrysops'' spp.), the vectors for ''Loa loa''. The adult ''Loa loa'' filarial worm migrates throughout the subcutaneous tissues of humans, occasionally crossing into subconjunctival tissues of the eye where it can be easily observed. ''Loa loa'' does not normally affect one's vision but can be painful when moving about the eyeball or across the bridge of the nose.John, David T. and William A. Petri, Jr. Markell and Voge's Medical Parasitology. 9th ed. 2006. The disease can cause red itchy swellings below the skin called "Calabar swellings". The disease is treated with the drug diethylcarbamazine (DEC), and when appropriate, surgical methods may be employed to remove adult worms from the conjunctiva. Loiasis belongs to the so-called neglected diseases. Signs and symptoms A filariasis such as loiasis most often co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loa Loa
''Loa loa'' is a filarial (arthropod-borne) nematode (roundworm) that causes ''Loa loa'' filariasis. ''Loa loa'' actually means "worm worm", but is commonly known as the "eye worm", as it localizes to the conjunctiva of the eye. ''Loa loa'' is commonly found in Africa.Schmidt, Gerald et al. "Foundations of Parasitology". 7th ed. McGraw Hill, New York, NY, 2005. It mainly inhabits rain forests in West Africa and has native origins in Ethiopia. The disease caused by ''Loa loa'' is called loiasis and is one of the neglected tropical diseases. ''L. loa'' is one of three parasitic filarial nematodes that cause subcutaneous filariasis in humans. The other two are ''Mansonella streptocerca and Onchocerca volvulus'' (causes river blindness). Maturing larvae and adults of the "eye worm" occupy the subcutaneous layer of the skin – the fat layer – of humans, causing disease. The ''L. loa'' adult worm which travels under the skin can survive up to 10–15 years, causing inflammati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diethylcarbamazine
Diethylcarbamazine is a medication used in the treatment of filariasis including lymphatic filariasis, tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, and loiasis. It may also be used for prevention of loiasis in those at high risk. While it has been used for onchocerciasis (river blindness), ivermectin is preferred. It is taken by mouth. Common side effects include itching, facial swelling, headaches, and feeling tired. Other side effects include vision loss and dizziness. It is a recommended treatment in pregnancy and appears to be safe for the baby. The World Health Organization; however, recommends waiting until after pregnancy for treatment when feasible. It is made from 4-methyl-piperazine. Diethylcarbamazine was discovered in 1947 by Yellapragada Subbarow. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is not commercially available in the United States but can be acquired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical uses Diethylcarbamazine is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eosinophilia
Eosinophilia is a condition in which the eosinophil count in the peripheral blood exceeds . Hypereosinophilia is an elevation in an individual's circulating blood eosinophil count above 1.5 x 109/ L (i.e. 1,500/μL). The hypereosinophilic syndrome is a sustained elevation in this count above 1.5 x 109/L (i.e. 1,500/μL) that is also associated with evidence of eosinophil-based tissue injury. Eosinophils usually account for less than 7% of the circulating leukocytes. A marked increase in non-blood tissue eosinophil count noticed upon histopathologic examination is diagnostic for tissue eosinophilia. Several causes are known, with the most common being some form of allergic reaction or parasitic infection. Diagnosis of eosinophilia is via a complete blood count (CBC), but diagnostic procedures directed at the underlying cause vary depending on the suspected condition(s). An absolute eosinophil count is not generally needed if the CBC shows marked eosinophilia. The location of the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nematode
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments. Less formally, they are categorized as Helminths, but are taxonomically classified along with Arthropod, arthropods, Tardigrade, tardigrades and other moulting animalia, animals in the clade Ecdysozoa, and unlike platyhelminthe, flatworms, have tubular digestion, digestive systems with openings at both ends. Like tardigrades, they have a reduced number of Hox genes, but their sister phylum Nematomorpha has kept the ancestral protostome Hox genotype, which shows that the reduction has occurred within the nematode phylum. Nematode species can be difficult to distinguish from one another. Consequently, estimates of the number of nematode species described to date vary by author and may change rapidly over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found within the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord of all vertebrates. CSF is produced by specialised ependymal cells in the choroid plexus of the ventricles of the brain, and absorbed in the arachnoid granulations. There is about 125 mL of CSF at any one time, and about 500 mL is generated every day. CSF acts as a shock absorber, cushion or buffer, providing basic mechanical and immunological protection to the brain inside the skull. CSF also serves a vital function in the cerebral autoregulation of cerebral blood flow. CSF occupies the subarachnoid space (between the arachnoid mater and the pia mater) and the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord. It fills the ventricles of the brain, cisterns, and sulci, as well as the central canal of the spinal cord. There is also a connection from the subarachnoid space to the bony labyrinth of the inner ear via the perilymphat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microfilaria
::''Microfilaria may also refer to an informal "collective group" genus name, proposed by Cobbold in 1882. While a convenient category for newly discovered microfilariae which can not be assigned to a known species because the adults are unknown, it is seldom used today.'' The microfilaria (plural microfilariae, sometimes abbreviated mf) is an early stage in the life cycle of certain parasitic nematodes in the family Onchocercidae. In these species, the adults live in a tissue or the circulatory system of vertebrates (the "definitive hosts"). They release microfilariae into the bloodstream of the vertebrate host. The microfilariae are taken up by blood-feeding arthropod vectors (the "intermediate hosts"). In the intermediate host the microfilariae develop into infective larvae that can be transmitted to a new vertebrate host. The presence of microfilariae in the host bloodstream is called "microfilaraemia". The success of filariasis eradication programs is typically gauged by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Host (biology)
In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasite, parasitic, a mutualism (biology), mutualistic, or a commensalism, commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include animals playing host to parasitic worms (e.g. nematodes), cell (biology), cells harbouring pathogenic (disease-causing) viruses, a Fabaceae, bean plant hosting mutualistic (helpful) Rhizobia, nitrogen-fixing bacteria. More specifically in botany, a host plant supplies nutrient, food resources to micropredators, which have an evolutionarily stable strategy, evolutionarily stable relationship with their hosts similar to ectoparasitism. The host range is the collection of hosts that an organism can use as a partner. Symbiosis Symbiosis spans a wide variety of possible relationships between organisms, differing in their permanence and their effects on the two parties. If one of the partners in an ass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The larva's appearance is generally very different from the adult form (''e.g.'' caterpillars and butterflies) including different unique structures and organs that do not occur in the adult form. Their diet may also be considerably different. Larvae are frequently adapted to different environments than adults. For example, some larvae such as tadpoles live almost exclusively in aquatic environments, but can live outside water as adult frogs. By living in a distinct environment, larvae may be given shelter from predators and reduce competition for resources with the adult population. Animals in the larval stage will consume food to fuel their transition into the adult form. In some organisms like polychaetes and barnacles, adults are immobil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hematophagy
Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα ' "blood" and φαγεῖν ' "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without great effort, hematophagy is a preferred form of feeding for many small animals, such as worms and arthropods. Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomatids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut, and about 75 percent of all species of leeches (e.g., ''Hirudo medicinalis'') are hematophagous. The spider Evarcha culicivora feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by specializing on blood-filled female mosquitoes as their preferred prey. Some fish, such as lampreys and candirus, and mammals, especially the vampire bats, and birds, such as the vampire finches, hood mockingbirds, the Tristan thrush, and oxpeckers also practise hematophagy. Mechanism and evolution These hematophag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L Loa LifeCycle
L, or l, is the twelfth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''el'' (pronounced ), plural ''els''. History Lamedh may have come from a pictogram of an ox goad or cattle prod. Some have suggested a shepherd's staff. Use in writing systems Phonetic and phonemic transcription In phonetic and phonemic transcription, the International Phonetic Alphabet uses to represent the lateral alveolar approximant. English In English orthography, usually represents the phoneme , which can have several sound values, depending on the speaker's accent, and whether it occurs before or after a vowel. The alveolar lateral approximant (the sound represented in IPA by lowercase ) occurs before a vowel, as in ''lip'' or ''blend'', while the velarized alveolar lateral approximant (IPA ) occurs in ''bell'' and ''milk''. This velarization does not occur in many European langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse-fly
Horse-flies or horseflies are true Fly, flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect Order (biology), order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and only the female horseflies bite animals, including humans, to hematophagy, obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sunlight, avoiding dark and shady areas, and are inactive at night. They are found all over the world except for some islands and the polar regions (Hawaii, Greenland, Iceland). Both horse-flies and Botfly, botflies (Oestridae) are sometimes referred to as gadflies. Adult horse-flies feed on nectar and plant exudates; the males have weak insect mouthparts, mouthparts and only the females bite animals to obtain enough protein from blood to produce eggs. The mouthparts of females are formed into a stout stabbing organ with two pairs of sharp cutting blades, and a spongelike part used to lap up the blood that flows from the wound. The larvae are Predation, predaceous and grow in semiaquatic habitats. Female hor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diptera
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing an estimated 1,000,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies and others, although only about 125,000 species have been described. Flies have a mobile head, with a pair of large compound eyes, and mouthparts designed for piercing and sucking (mosquitoes, black flies and robber flies), or for lapping and sucking in the other groups. Their wing arrangement gives them great maneuverability in flight, and claws and pads on their feet enable them to cling to smooth surfaces. Flies undergo complete metamorphosis; the eggs are often laid on the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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