L. Jemaneh et D. Kebede, PERIODICITY OF WUCHERERIA-BANCROFTI MICROFILARIAE IN SOUTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA, Ethiopian medical journal, 33(2), 1995, pp. 125-128
As pan of a clinical and,epidemiological study of lymphatic filariasis
in southwestern Ethiopia the microfilarial density in the blood of tw
o male and two female volunteers from the village of Ketch (near the t
own of Gambella) was determined every four hours for a 24-hour period
using the counting chamber technique. In the blood of the volunteers t
he majority of the microfilariae appeared between 20 and 04 hours with
peak at 24 hours (range at peak time + 3060-3560 mf/ml blood) depicti
ng a nocturnal periodicity of circulating Wuchereria bancrofti microfi
lariae. This has important implications for the diagnosis, monitoring
and transmission of lymphatic filariasis in the area.