Filariasis primary prevention

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mohammed Abdelwahed M.D[2]

Overview

There are many primary preventive measures available for filariasis. Wearing appropriate clothing, avoid outbreaks, insecticides and spatial repellents, bed nets and mass drug treatment programs are efficient ways to prevent filariasis.

Primary Prevention

General Protective Measures

• Avoid outbreaks:
  • To the extent possible, travelers should avoid known foci of epidemic disease transmission.
• Awareness of peak exposure times and places:
  • Exposure to arthropod bites may be reduced if travelers modify their patterns of activity or behavior.
  • Avoiding the outdoors or focusing preventive actions during peak hours may reduce risk.
  • Place also matters; ticks are often found in grasses and other vegetated areas. Local health officials or guides may be able to point out areas with increased arthropod activity to avoid being in these places.
• Appropriate clothing:
  • Travelers can minimize areas of exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, boots, and hats.
  • Tucking in shirts, tucking pants into socks, and wearing closed shoes instead of sandals may reduce risk.
  • Repellents or insecticides, such as permethrin, can be applied to clothing and gear for added protection.
• Bed nets:
  • When accommodations are not adequately screened or air conditioned, bed nets are essential to provide protection and to reduce discomfort caused by biting insects.
  • If bed nets do not reach the floor, they should be tucked under mattresses.
  • Bed nets are most effective when they are treated with a pyrethroid.
  • Pretreated, long-lasting bed nets can be purchased before traveling, or nets can be treated after purchase. Nets treated with a pyrethroid insecticide will be effective for several months if they are not washed. Long-lasting pretreated nets may be effective for much longer.
• Insecticides and Spatial Repellents:
  • An increasing array of products to be used as spatial repellents (containing active ingredients such as metofluthrin and allethrin) is becoming commercially available.These augment the aerosol insecticides, vaporizing mats, and mosquito coils that have been available for some time.
  • Insecticides products can help to clear rooms or areas of mosquitoes (spray aerosols) or repel mosquitoes from a circumscribed area (coils, spatial repellents).
  • Insecticides and repellent products should always be used with caution, avoiding direct inhalation of spray or smoke.
• Mass drug treatment programs:
  • Yearly administration of single-dose DEC (6 mg/kg) to reduce microfilaria in blood and viability of adult worms.

References

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