Word: microfilaria
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Called mumu by Samoans, filariasis develops from the worm Wuchereria bancrofti, carried by certain species of mosquitoes. Injected into the blood stream, the baby worm (microfilaria) eventually may grow nearly four inches long. It lodges in the lymph glands, where it reproduces itself. First visible symptoms are painful swellings of an arm, leg or the scrotum. Doctors have been less alarmed than troops by the disease, because even with repeated infections, less than 10% of the cases develop elephantiasis, and symptoms usually disappear after return to a temperate climate. But the disease's monstrous effects on native sufferers...
| 1 |