Public Health and Prevention Strategies/Vaccines
Diethylcarbamazine has been shown as an effective prophylaxis for Loa loa infection. A study of Peace Corps volunteers in the highly Loa—endemic Gabon, for example, had the following results: 6 of 20 individuals in a placebo group contracted the disease, compared to 0 of 16 in the DEC-treated group. Seropositivity for antifilarial IgG antibody was also much higher in the placebo group. The recommended prophylactic dose is 300 mg DEC given orally once weekly. The only associated symptom in the Peace Corps study was nausea.
Researchers believe that geo-mapping of appropriate habitat and human settlement patterns may, with the use of predictor variables such as forest, land cover, rainfall, temperature, and soil type, allow for estimation of Loa loa transmission in the absence of point-of-care diagnostic tests. In addition to geo-mapping and chemoprophylaxis, the same preventative strategies used for malaria should be undertaken to avoid contraction of loiasis. Specifically, DEET-containing insect repellent, permethrin-soaked clothing, and thick, long-sleeved and long-legged clothing ought to be worn to decreased susceptibility to the bite of the mango or deerfly vector. Because the vector is day-biting, mosquito (bed) nets do not increase protection against loiasis.
Vector elimination strategies are an interesting consideration. It has been shown that the Chrysops vector has a limited flying range, but vector elimination efforts are not common, likely because the insects bite outdoors and have a diverse, if not long, range, living in the forest and biting in the open, as mentioned in the vector section.
No vaccine has been developed for loiasis and there is little report on this possibility.
Read more about this topic: Loa Loa Filariasis
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