Loiasis: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Loiasis is a condition that is caused by the eye worm known as Loa loa. This is a parasite which lives in the human body and is contracted when you are bitten by infected deer flies. The larvae of the worm enter your bloodstream and soon develop into adult worms. These worms travel through the skin causing inflammations called Calabar swelling, and often move across the cornea and conjunctiva of your eyes. They can even enter the brain and cause encephalitis. Although the symptoms of loiasis may not appear for several months or years, you may observe itching all over the body, joint pain, muscle pain, fatigue, and even see a worm crawling under the skin or across the surface of your eye.

Loiasis can be treated with Diethylcarbamazine (DEC), Albendazole, Ivermectin. Treatment also includes chemotherapy or surgical removal of the worms in some cases.

The ideal diagnosis procedure is a microscopic examination to identify microfilariae. Microfilaria refers to the early life stage of certain parasitic nematodes in the Onchocercidae family. Diethylcarbamazine drug is used to kill the microfilariae and adult worms. The dose of the drug depends on your body weight. Doctors usually prescribe a dose of 2-3mg/kg thrice a day. Albendazole tablets are recommended when the condition does not improve even after multiple DEC treatment. For adults a dose of 200mg is recommended for 21 days. Ivermectin drug can be prescribed in the form of tablets or tropical creams and lotion. It is an anti-parasitic drug that paralyzes and kills the adult worms, and stops it from producing larvae for a while.

Loiasis condition is usually asymptomatic, which means the symptoms usually remain unobserved. However you may observe swelling and itching all over the body, joint pain, muscle pain, fatigue, and even see a worm crawling under the skin or across the surface of your eye. These signs suggest you are eligible for the treatment.

If you do not observe symptoms of loiasis then you are not eligible for the treatment. Often times the patient may be allergic to certain drugs used in the treatment. People with seizures, liver problems may not be eligible for the treatment. Hence you should first get yourself diagnosed for other health conditions before going for the treatment.

Drugs like Diethylcarbamazine and Albendazole that are used for the treatment of loiasis condition have quite a few side effects- chills, fever, red spots on the skin, swollen glands, blood in the stool or urine, diarrhea, night blindness or loss of vision. Ivermectin drug can cause breathing trouble, skin rash and swelling of your tongue or throat.

You should follow these post treatment guidelines for a speedy recovery- use insect repellents, wear long-sleeved clothes to reduce the risk of an insect-bite. Also, you will need to follow up with your doctor more often and continue with the medications as prescribed by the doctor.

It will take 6-7 days to recover from the condition after the completion of the treatment.

The price of Diethylcarbamazine and Ivermectin drugs that are used for the treatment, usually varies between Rs.800 to Rs.10,000.

Whether the results of the treatment are permanent or not, is not known.

There are no other alternative treatments for this condition.