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Article: Doctors Battle Disfiguring Parasite.(World Health Organization fights elephantiasis)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA
- Article date:
- November 19, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 NewsRX. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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2000 NOV 19 - (NewsRx.com) --
It begins with a mosquito bite, seemingly no different from any other. But this one leaves a small worm behind. A few years later, long after the worm has died, a part of the body begins to swell - and a life is changed forever.
"Some days it hurts so bad I can't get out of bed to go to the bathroom," says Aura, a petite 46-year-old who watched her right leg balloon to three times its normal size. Like millions in the developing world, she is a victim of the crippling, demoralizing, and incurable disease known as elephantiasis.
Researchers believe the disease, which can add 100 pounds or more to a person's weight, ...