ABSTRACT
In a study carried out in Jakarta, Indonesia between 1969--1977, patients with clinical manifestations of filariasis were examined for microfilaremia. Finger blood (3 X 20 microliter) were examined by conventional methods, venous blood by membrane filtration, urine and hydrocele fluid by concentration methods. A total of 1,422 patients were examined and 182 (12.8%) were positive by blood smear; however, examination by membrane filtration and concentration of urine and hydrocele fluid did not appreciably increase the association between clinical manifestations and Wuchereria bancrofti infection. Approximately 16% of the patients without patent infection were indirectly associated with filariasis, since they co-habitated with persons with microfilaremia. Results of these studies showed that more than 60% of the patients were without patent infection. Factors that may be responsible for these findings are briefly discussed.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Chyle , Elephantiasis/parasitology , Female , Filariasis/parasitology , Humans , Indonesia , Lymphedema/parasitology , Male , Microfilariae , Middle Aged , Testicular Hydrocele/parasitology , Urine/parasitology , Wuchereria bancroftiABSTRACT
Rates of lymph flow in cats were measured by calculating the disappearance of radioactive colloidal gold (198Au) from the feet of (1) uninfected cats, (2) cats infected for various periods after primary infection with Brugia pahangi, and (3) cats repeatedly challenged with B. pahangi infective larvae over long periods. The results of the study showed that (1) there is great variation in gold disappearance rates in different cats in all 3 groups above, (2) the cat lymphatic system is functionally highly efficient, and (3) in a cat with lymphoedema and early elephantiasis, there was a significant impairment of gold removal from the affected foot. The study proved useful in finding lymph drainage rates in the various animals but did not, as hoped, show any pattern of lymph flow decrease which might have enabled the use of the technique as a diagnostic tool for lymphatic pathology prior to the occurrence of external clinical manifestations of filariasis.