Filariasis, specifically lymphatic filariasis, causes the dreaded illness called elephantiasis. Due to the SAFE FOR WORK nature of this blog, no images of elephantiasis would be shown on this site. For the curious and the masochistic among my readers, I suggest you google for pics.
Suffice it to say that I’ve just been given the standard treatment for the prevention of elephantiasis: 5 tablets of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and 1 tablet of Albendazole. I have yet to actually drink the stuff, but they’re now in my possession.
Call me a little paranoid, but I had been bitten by mosquitoes in a filariasis-endemic-community about 3 days ago. For those not in the know, filariasis is transmitted from the bite of a mosquito carrying filarial worms, taken from biting an infected patient. The government recommends endemic areas to hold mass medication drives to stop the chain of infection.
I don’t care if:
1. I was bitten at full noon when filariasis-carrier-mosquitoes (Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori) usually bite at night.
2. the last positive case confirmed by nocturnal blood testing happened years ago.
3. that that case was in a community several kilometers away from were I was bitten.
4. that side effects of the antiparasitic drug DEC include drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and a host of other rare symptoms.
5. that even some midwives who handle health centers in filariasis-endemic-areas don’t even take the regimen!
I just want to be sure I’m free even from risk. Heck! I don’t even care if elephantiasis does not show up in its irreversible, maiming, and disfiguring glory until 5 to 10 years after exposure.
I’m taking the drugs now. Yes, I’m already unsealing them from their precious containers. Pretty soon, I’ll be gulping them and they’ll do their work against the tiny worms, real or imagined, in my body.
Btw, if you live in a filariasis endemic area, I suggest you take the drugs. They are given free if you only but ask in your respective health center…
