Neglected Tropical Diseases 1Lymphatic Filariasis
Neglected Tropical Diseases
The fight against lymphatic filariasis Creating hope for millions
• Lymphatic filariasis (LF), or elephantiasis, is a devastating infection Image: A young boy measured in Morogoro, spread by mosquitoes. Tanazania to make sure he gets the right dose of • It affects 120 million people in 72 countries around the world. preventative treatment. • Another 1.3 billion people (one-fifth of the world’s population) are at risk of infection. • We’re working with our partners to put an end to LF by 2020 by continuing to donate millions of albendazole tablets.
GlaxoSmithKline Factsheet 1: November 2012 v01 Neglected Tropical Diseases 1Lymphatic Filariasis
How LF is transmitted Stopping infection To prevent the spread of LF, transmission between Infected mosquito Infected human Newly-infected mosquitoes and people bites uninfected bitten by uninfected mosquito bites must be stopped. human mosquito uninfected human This requires treatment Mosquito Human with albendazole plus becomes becomes infected infected either ivermectin or DEC Human once a year becomes for infected 4-6 years
The lifecycle of the LF parasite
LF larvae pass from Adult LF worms Adult LF worms Microfilariae are Larvae migrate Larvae enter Larvae develop mosquito to human develop and produce ingested by to head and human into adults blood stream. reproduce in microfilariae. mosquitoes and proboscis of bloodstream and reproduce. humans. develop into larvae. mosquito. via the skin.
What is Lymphatic Filariasis (LF)? How are lives affected? What are we doing about it?
LF is a parasitic infection passed from LF is not life threatening, but those We believe that too many people person-to-person via mosquitoes. It is who are affected often suffer during are at risk of LF unnecessarily. Since found in the tropical and sub-tropical the peak of their years. They may 1998 we’ve been a proud founding areas of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the experience both disfigurement and partner of the Global Alliance to Middle East and the Americas. extreme emotional distress. Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis – an organisation that wants to free Today LF is one of the world’s leading Many people with LF are unable the world of this disfiguring and causes of disability. Symptoms to work, which usually leads to a life disabling disease forever. include chronic swelling of the legs, of poverty. Overall, the economic arms and male genitals. People with cost of working days lost as a result As part of our commitment we LF are also less able to resist common of LF runs into billions of dollars. donate albendazole, an anti-parasitic skin infections, resulting in a cruel drug that plays a role in helping stop Image: A patient receiving cycle of fevers and painful swellings. People with LF are also frequently the transmission of this disease. treatment at a LF clinic isolated in their communities in Dar Salaam, Tanzania. In its severest form, lymphatic and find it difficult to get married. So far we have donated three billion filariasis leads to elephantiasis, In many of the societies that are tablets to support the elimination a crippling condition in which the affected, this is a major barrier of LF, alongside grants and other limbs often are grotesquely swollen to achieving personal and financial support for the global initiative. or enlarged. security. 3 billion To date we’ve donated over three billion tablets to help eliminate LF
GlaxoSmithKline Factsheet 1: November 2012 v01 Neglected Tropical Diseases 1Lymphatic Filariasis
Distribution and status of treatment for LF Endemic countries implementing mass drug administration (MDA) Endemic countries not begun MDA Endemic countries where the target was achieved and MDA stopped Non-endemic countries
Equator
Data Source: World Health Organization 2010
How the Global Alliance works Significant progress Living with LF Stopping a disease like LF requires So far we have donated three billion Sultan’s story from Tanzania the active participation of many albendazole treatments to over different organisations. 50 countries. 37 countries have Sultan’s legs prevent provided five or more rounds of mass him from leading We work with the Global Alliance drug administration to at least some a normal life but it to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis endemic areas of their countries. is the feverish attacks alongside Ministries of Health and that cause him most over 40 other organisations. These 2.8 billion doses of medicines were discomfort. Like most include donors, international delivered in the first nine years of the LF patients he suffers agencies, academic institutions, global programme. these attacks regularly – other pharmaceutical companies and once or even twice non-governmental organisations. It is estimated that at least 66 million a month – with each babies have been born in areas that attack lasting anything The Global Alliance provides are now protected from LF infection1. up to seven days. fundraising, advocacy, communications and technical Meanwhile other countries are His condition, together assistance in support of the joining the programme or expanding with a lack of secondary programme’s two goals: their activity to new areas. At 23 Sultan is an education, means imposing man. Despite that he finds it almost 1. Interrupting transmission this he doesn’t make impossible to find regular of the disease and eliminating eye contact; he wears employment. He is LF as a public health problem his baseball cap with sometimes able to carry by 2020; and the brim pulled down water for money, but over his eyes. He uses not often. 2. Reducing the suffering his wide leg jeans to of those already affected. cover his affliction, He has used traditional his massive swollen medicine but it had no legs caused by LF. effect. Thankfully the LF elimination programme Sultan began to suffer at has now come to his the age of 12. He started town, Morogoro, in to get pain in his legs, Tanzania, and he is together with unbearable taking part in the mass itching. Then his legs drug administration. began to swell. He tried He is also being taught to continue at school, but how to care for his legs, his condition worsened which will help him and he had to leave. manage and reduce the disabling effects caused by his condition.
GlaxoSmithKline Factsheet 1: November 2012 v01 Neglected Tropical Diseases 1Lymphatic Filariasis
Images: Treatment Unsung heroes and prevention of LF To rid the world of LF, is helping many people to reintegrate into their affected communities communities. need to be educated about the disease and motivated to take the drugs to stop it. This requires dedicated local teams working in remote or inaccessible areas, often in countries already experiencing funding shortages, other chronic diseases and civil unrest.
Setting up and running programmes like this is complicated and needs committed programme managers. Plus, devoted teams of workers out in the field. Many of these people are volunteers. They are the unsung heroes of this initiative. Without them, the ongoing battle to stop LF would be lost.
The fight goes on Aside from the science and the development work one very human Footnotes Tackling LF poses a huge challenge. challenge still remains. We need to 1 Ottesen EA, Hooper PJ, Bradley It involves treating over one billion raise global awareness of LF in order M, Biswas G (2008) The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic people worldwide once a year for to attract additional partners and Filariasis: Health Impact after 8 at least five years. It’s likely that six secure resources to ensure we reach Years. PloS Negl Trop Dis 2(10): e317 billion treatments of albendazole will a successful conclusion. be required for success. This is where all our current We’re confident that the results partners, employees and any other achieved so far will continue as more interested parties can make a real countries expand their treatment difference. For many centuries LF programmes and others start their was a neglected disease because there own national programmes. We are was little chance of treatment or currently providing approximately prevention. This has now changed. 600 million albendazole tablets each Over the past two decades we’ve year until LF is eliminated globally been proud to help to create real as a public health problem. We hope for the communities who live are providing a further 400 million with LF every day. albendazole tablets each year for deworming school age children. Our goal remains to consign LF to history by end of 2020.
GlaxoSmithKline’s global mission is to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. It pursues this mission not only through the medicines and vaccines it develops and makes available, but also through a wide variety of community programmes.
More info Contact Find out more about GlaxoSmithKline Neglected Tropical Diseases Unit and the fight against LF at GlaxoSmithKline www.gsk.com 980 Great West Road search ‘filariasis’ or ‘LF’ Brentford, Middlesex www.filariasis.org TW8 9GS, UK [email protected]
GlaxoSmithKline Factsheet 1: November 2012 v01