The effective treatment regimens to decrease microfilaremia have been primarily responsible for the recent designation by the World Health Assembly of lymphatic filariasis as a disease that can be eliminated globally.
The disease filariasis, caused by filarial worms, is a major public health and socioeconomic problem in most of the developing countries. The identified filarial worms infecting humans are Brugia malayi, Onchocerca volvulus, Loa loa, Acanthocheilonema perstans, Acanthcelonema streptocerca, Mansonella ozzardi. To date, more than 700 million people are infected with lymphaticfilariasis and about 150 million people in world are living in endemicareas of filariasis.13 An estimated population of 22 million is known to be host for circulating microfilarie and the 16 million people suffer from filarial manifestations like elephantiasis of limbs, genitals and hydrocoele. About 120 million people are infected with one or the other forms of the filariasis.13