Assessment of family and neighbors of an individual infected with Wuchereria bancrofti from a non-endemic area in the city of Maceió, Brazil

Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases

Fontes, Gilberto¹  Rocha, Eliana MM¹  Gonçalves, Johnathan EL¹  Leite, Anderson B¹  Santos, Rafael V¹  Lima, Ana RV de¹  Leite, Renata B¹ 

[1] Universidade Federal de Alagoas

关键词: Wuchereria bancrofti;    lymphatic filariasis;    epidemiology;    Culex;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1413-86702010000200002

来源: Contexto

【 摘 要 】

The family and neighbors of a patient infected with W. bancrofti microfilariae were assessed aiming to evaluate the occurrence of cases of lymphatic filariasis in a non-endemic area in the city of Maceió, in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. The patient had previously lived in an endemic focus; however, he has been living in an area where the parasite has never been detected for the past ten years. Female ingurgitated Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes captured in the houses of the microfilaremic individual and of his neighbors in the non-endemic region were also examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The thick blood smear examination, blood membrane filtration, and rapid immunochromatography (antigen search) revealed no infected individuals in the family of the microfilaremic individual. All 334 neighbors undergoing the thick blood smear examination were negative for W. bancrofti microfilariae. In 478 ingurgitated C. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes examined by PCR, no W. bancrofti DNA was detected. The microfilaremic individual had a microfilaremia considered very low according to WHO standards (4 microfilariae/mL of blood). As the vectorial infection depends on microfilaremia, the patient's low parasite load did not determine the contamination of other individuals in the area. Our data have shown that the long-term residence of the microfilaremic individual in the non-endemic region was not sufficient to start a new transmission focus of lymphatic filariasis in Maceió.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND