A tropical disease of the eye caused when the threadworm Loa loa enters the eye or the skin around the eye.
An infection caused by the larvae of a parasitic worm called Loa loa, which is transmitted to humans by the Chrysops fly. Flies become continually reinfected and spread the infection by biting infected humans, then transmitting the infection by biting uninfected humans. Loiasis is found principally in the rain forest and swamp forest regions of western Africa and is especially common in Cameroon and in the area of the Ogowe River. The infective parasitic larvae develop slowly into adult worms and then reproduce themselves inside the human body, residing and migrating through the upper layers of skin. During their growth and development, they periodically travel through the deeper connective tissues below the skin and back to the skin’s surface again.
A disease, occurring in West and Central Africa, caused by the eye worm Loa loa. The adult worms live and migrate within the skin tissues, causing the appearance of transitory calabar swellings. These are probably an allergic reaction to the worms’ waste products, and they sometimes lead to fever and itching. Worms often migrate across the eyeball just beneath the conjunctiva, where they cause irritation and congestion. Loiasis is treated with diethylcarbamazine, which kills both the adults and larval forms.
Loiasis is the disease caused by the filarial worm Loa loa, usually transmitted by the mango fly, Chrysops dimidiata, but other flies of this genus can also transmit it. It is confined to West and Central Africa. The characteristic feature of the disease is the appearance of swellings which may arise anywhere in the body in the course of the worm’s migration through it: these are known as Calabar swellings. Diethylcarbamazine is the treatment for this form of filariasis.
Loiasis is a variant of the tropical parasitic ailment filariasis, resulting from an invasion by the LOA LOA worm. These worms migrate beneath the skin, giving rise to itchy patches of inflammation referred to as Calabar swellings, and occasionally become visible as they move across the surface of the eye. Treatment for loiasis involves a regimen of diethylcarbamazine, aimed at eliminating the worms.