health

Symptoms In addition to the characteristic swelling, people with this
disorder sometimes have bouts of fever and headache. Sometimes their
swollen limbs become infected. Elephantiasis commonly causes marked
swelling of the scrotum in males.

Diagnosis Microfilariae sometimes can be seen in blood under a microscope.
Often the doctor diagnoses the disorder based on the symptoms and
a medical history, after ruling out other disorders with similar symptoms.

Treatment Medications are not very effective against adult worms. New
microfilariae produced by the adult worms often continue to show up
months after treatment. For this reason multiple treatments with diethylcarbamizine
(DEC) are often necessary.

Prevention Because elephantiasis is found mainly in poorer countries,
money for research into the cure and prevention of the disease has
been limited. Effective treatment and preventive efforts would include

• spraying to kill mosquitoes
  
• giving antibiotics to prevent infection
  
• giving medications (DEC) to kill microfilariae circulating in the
  blood
  
• applying pressure bandages to reduce swelling
  
• surgically removing infected tissue.