Biology
In humans, the adult worms reside in the lymphatic ducts and are found mostly in the afferent lymphatic channels of the lymph glands in the lower part of the body. The microfilariae produced by the female worms have a membrane "sheath". This sheath, along with the area in which the worms reside, makes identification of the species of microfilariae in humans easier to determine. The microfilariae are found mainly in the peripheral blood and can be found at peak amounts from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The cause of this periodicity remains unknown, but the advantages of the microfilariae being in the peripheral blood during these hours may ensure the vector, the nighttime mosquito, will have a higher chance of transmitting them elsewhere. Physiological changes also are associated with sleeping, such as lowered body temperature, oxygen tension and adrenal activity, and an increased carbon dioxide tension, among other physical alterations, any of which could be the signals for the rhythmic behavior of microfilarial parasites. If the hosts sleep by day and are awake at night, their periodicity is reversed.
In the South Pacific, where W. bancrofti shows diurnal periodicity, it is known as periodic.
Read more about this topic: Wuchereria Bancrofti
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