Abstract
The filarial parasite, Loa loa, causes chronic infection in an estimated 10 million people living in Central and West Africa and in long-term visitors to endemic areas. Although generally perceived as a relatively benign infection, the symptoms of loiasis can be disabling and infection has been associated with excess mortality and rare but serious complications of infection-associated eosinophilia. Treatment of loiasis is complex, due to potentially severe complications associated with microfilarial killing, especially in patients with high-microfilarial loads, and incomplete efficacy of macrofilaricidal therapies. In the following chapter, currently available therapies for loiasis and their use in the treatment of loiasis are reviewed. Novel therapies and adjunct measures are also discussed. Finally, a simple stepwise approach to treatment is suggested.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Michel Boussinesq for his helpful comments. This work was funded by the Intramural Research Program of NIAID, NIH.
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Klion, A. (2023). Clinical Aspects: Treatment of Simple and Complicated Forms of Loiasis. In: Akue, J.P. (eds) Loa loa: Latest Advances in Loiasis Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49450-5_5
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