01855nas a2200241 4500000000100000008004100001653002500042653000900067653001500076653001100091653003100102653001800133653001600151653001100167653002800178653001200206100001400218245009600232300001000328490001600338520124500354022001401599 2009 d10aWuchereria bancrofti10aMale10aLymphedema10aHumans10aHost-Parasite Interactions10aGlobal health10aFilaricides10aFemale10aElephantiasis, Filarial10aAnimals1 aBrantus P00aTen years of managing the clinical manifestations and disabilities of lymphatic filariasis. aS5-100 v103 Suppl 13 a

The aim of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis is to eradicate one of the world's leading causes of permanent and long-term disability, at least as a public-health problem. The achievement of this goal is based on the interruption of the transmission of the causative parasites (so preventing new cases) and, as a 'second pillar', the prevention of disability in those who are infected. The disability is associated with the main clinical manifestations of human infection with Wuchereria or Brugia spp. (i.e. hydrocele, lymphoedema and/or 'acute attacks'). The World Health Organization and its partners have established strategies and activities both for managing lymphoedema, through community home-based care, and for increasing access to surgery for hydrocele. Over the last decade, there has been progress made in preventing the disability of lymphatic filariasis, the monitoring and evaluation of such disability and its control, and the integration of disability prevention with mass drug administrations and efforts to control other disabling diseases. That progress and the challenges that remain in the prevention of the morbidity and disability attributable to lymphatic filariasis are here reviewed.

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