Mansonellosis: current perspectives

• Published in: Research and reports in tropical medicine Vol. 9; pp. 9 - 24
• Main Authors: Ta-Tang, Thuy-Huong, Crainey, James L, Post, Rory J, Luz, Sergio Lb, Rubio, José M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Bacteria; Beef cattle; Doxycycline; Females; Filariasis; Health aspects; Immunization; Infections; Itching; Ivermectin; M. ozzardi; M. perstans; M. streptocerca; Mansonellosis; Mebendazole; Medical personnel; Medical research; Monkeys & apes; Morphology; neglected disease; Parasites; Parasitic diseases; Pruritus; R&D; Research & development; Review; Roundworms; Skin; Tropical diseases; Women; M. perstans; M. streptocerca; mansonellosis; M. ozzardi; filariasis; neglected disease
• ISSN: 1179-7282; 1179-7282
• DOI: 10.2147/RRTM.S125750

Mansonellosis is a filarial disease caused by three species of filarial (nematode) parasites ( , , and ) that use humans as their main definitive hosts. These parasites are transmitted from person to person by bloodsucking females from two families of flies (Diptera). Biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) transmit all three species of , but blackflies (Simuliidae) are also known to play a role in the transmission of in parts of Latin America. and are endemic in western, eastern, and central Africa, and is also present in the neotropical region from equatorial Brazil to the Caribbean coast. has a patchy distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mansonellosis infections are thought to have little pathogenicity and to be almost always asymptomatic, but occasionally causing itching, joint pains, enlarged lymph glands, and vague abdominal symptoms. In Brazil, infections are also associated with corneal lesions. Diagnosis is usually performed by detecting microfilariae in peripheral blood or skin without any periodicity. There is no standard treatment at present for mansonellosis. The combination therapy of diethylcarbamazine plus mebendazole for microfilaremia is presently one of the most widely used, but the use of ivermectin has also been proven to be very effective against microfilariae. Recently, doxycycline has shown excellent efficacy and safety when used as an antimicrobial against endosymbiotic bacteria harbored by some strains of and . Diethylcarbamazine and ivermectin have been used effectively to treat infection. There are at present no estimates of the disease burden caused by mansonellosis, and thus its importance to many global health professionals and policy makers is presently limited to how it can interfere with diagnostic tools used in modern filarial disease control and elimination programs aimed at other species of filariae.