Abstract
Background: Situation of lymphatic filariasis is worse in many third world developing countries like India. But information is scanty from many areas. Present study focused on a comparative filarial epidemiology in rural and urban areas of West Bengal, India. Methods: Examination of 20 μL night blood samples by finger prick and clinical examination for filarial diseases of 3144 urban and 2690 rural people was done by random selection. Results: In both the area Wuchereria bancrofti was identified as the causative parasite of filariasis. In the urban area, overall microfilaria rate, mean microfilarial density, disease rate and endemicity rate were assessed as 3.24%, 6.31, 5.47% and 8.72% respectively; whereas in the rural area, those were assessed as 1.23%, 4.61, 1.38% and 2.60% respectively. In both areas males were more affected than the females by the filarial problems. Conclusion: The urban study area is more endemic for bancroftian filariasis than the rural one. Urban areas are already under the threat of the disease and it is spreading towards the rural areas.
Highlights
Lymphatic Filariasis was recognized in India in ancient times, as Sushruta in 6th century B.C. reported human filariasis in ‘Sushruta Samhita’ [1]
In the urban study area 3144 people (1706 male and 1438 female) were brought into the study and overall microfilaria rate (MR), Mean Microfilarial Density (MMD), disease rate (DR) and endemicity rate (ER) were assessed as 3.24%, 6.31, 5.47% and 8.72% respectively
Overall MR, DR and ER was higher in the age group of 31-40 years (5.50%, 8.87% and 14.37% respectively) than the other age groups and MMD were higher in the age group of 11-20 years (7.43) than the other age groups (Table 1)
Summary
Lymphatic Filariasis was recognized in India in ancient times, as Sushruta in 6th century B.C. reported human filariasis in ‘Sushruta Samhita’ [1]. Information regarding filarial epidemiology from different areas of West Bengal, India, is available [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14], but a large part of the state is untouched by the workers, specially the rural areas like Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India. A study was carried out to collect epidemiological information such as microfilaria rate (MR), Mean Microfilarial Density (MMD), filarial disease rate (DR), filarial endemicity rate (ER) etc. In an urban and a rural area of West Bengal, India, with a comparative view. Situation of lymphatic filariasis is worse in many third world developing countries like India. Present study focused on a comparative filarial epidemiology in rural and urban areas of West Bengal, India
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