(B) TISSUE NEMATODES:

 Kayse Abtidoon
 kayseabtidoon@gmail.com
 +2524859004
 (B) TISSUE NEMATODES:

General characteristics of Tissue nematodes;

 They are slender and elongated(thread-like)

 Adults live in the lymphatic, subcutaneous tissues,connective tissues or body
cavities.
 Female worms are viviparous and the microfilaria they produce live in the blood
stream.
 Microfilaria are used for identification of specific adult worms.
 Transmission is through insect bite with infective microfilaria.
GENERAL LIFE CYCLE;
 Microfilaria present in blood of man are sacked by an insect vector during the first
blood meal.
 Microfilaria then migrates to the thoracic muscles of the insect, moult to become
filariform larvae which is the infective stage.
 The filariform larvae migrate to the proboscis of the insect vector.
 During the second blood meal, the filariform larvae are injected to a healthy
individual.
 They then migrate to the habitat where they moult to become mature.
 Fertilization then takes place and microfilaria are released into the blood and the
lifecycle is repeated once an insect bites a man.
(i) WUCHERERIA BANCROFTI
Nickname – Filaria bancrofti.
Disease – Lymphatic filariasis
.
Geographical distribution
 Nocturnal periodic W. bancrofti is endemic in tropical America,tropical
Africa ,Egypt, India and S.East Asia.
Habitat – Adults lives in the lymphatic system and lymph nodes of man.
Transmission – When infective larvae are deposited on human skin when a mosquito
vector takes a blood meal.These are female mosquitoes belonging to the genera
Culex,Aedes ,Mansonia and Anopheles mosquitoes.
LIFECYCLE:
 When mosquito bites man,The infective larvae are deposited on the skin and penetrate
through punctured wound.
 By the way of peripheral blood vessels, the larvae reach the lymphatic vessels and
lymph nodes and begin to develop.
 Within 3 – 15 months, the larvae becomes mature, male and female mate and the females gives birth to larvae.
 These immature stage of larvae are called microfilaria.
 They then migrate from the lymph nodes to the blood and can be found in the blood about 9 months after
infection for W. bancrofti and after 3 months for Brugia species.
 The mature worms can live for many years in their host depending on host immune response. Their mean life
span is 4 – 6 years but they can survive up to 15 years or more.
 The microfilaria are taken up by mosquito when it sucks blood. In the stomach of the mosquito the
microfilaria lose their sheath and migrate from the midgut to the thorax of the vector where they develop
into infective larvae.
 Development in mosquito takes 1 – 2 weeks and mature infective larvae migrate to the mouth-parts of the
mosquito ready to be transmitted when the insect next takes a blood meal.
L ABORATORY DIAGNOSIS
Lymphatic filariasis is diagnosed by:
 blood collected at the correct time.
 Sometimes we can diagnosed urine analaysis
 CLINICAL FEATURES OF FILARIASIS:
 Elephantiasis is a complication of advanced lymphatic filariasis. It is seen as a coarse thickening,
hardening and cracking of the skin overlying enlarged fibrosed tissue. The legs are more commonly
affected than the arms and in W. bacrofti, the thigh is often involved.
 Chyluria occurs when the urogenital lymphatic vessels which are linked to those that transport chyle
from the intestine become blocked and rupture. Chyle, blood and microfilaria can be found in
morning urine specimens.
 Secondary bacterial and fungal infections of the skin can occurs
 PREVENTION AND CONTROL:
 Controlling mosquito vectors by eradicating breeding sites , draining stagnant water and spraying of
breeding areas with insecticides.
 Avoiding mosquito bites by wearing suitable clothes ,using mosquito nets.
 Health education.
 Clearing trees around houses in brugian filariasis areas where monkeys are important reservoir hosts.