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Mahesh

14/02/23 09:17 AM IST

Health Ministry Launches Nationwide Campaign To Combat Filariasis

In News
  • The Union Health Ministry has launched a nationwide mass drug administration (MDA) campaign aimed at ending filariasis disease transmission through door-to-door administration of anti-filarial drugs, especially in 10 affected states.
About Filariasis
  • Filariasis is a parasitic infection caused by microscopic, thread-like worms known as filariae. It is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, and it affects millions of people in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.
  • Lymphatic filariasis is caused by infection with parasites classified as nematodes (roundworms) of the family Filariodidea.
  • There are 3 types of these thread-like filarial worms-
  • Wuchereria bancrofti, which is responsible for 90% of the cases,
  • Brugia malayi, which causes most of the remainder of the cases,
  • Brugia timori, which also causes the disease.
  • In chronic conditions, it leads to lymphoedema (tissue swelling) or elephantiasis (skin/tissue thickening) of limbs and hydrocele (scrotal swelling).
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends three drug treatments to accelerate the global elimination of lymphatic filariasis.
  • The treatment, known as IDA, involves a combination of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine citrate and albendazole.
Source- The Hindu

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