View clinical trials related to Filarial Infection.
Filter by:This study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Tuberculosis Research Centre and YRG-Care in Chennai, India, will examine how treatment of lymphatic filariasis in HIV-infected patients influences the amount of HIV virus in the blood and the progression of HIV infection to AIDS. Filarial infections are common in Chennai, and it is important to understand whether treatment of filariasis affects the course of HIV disease. The information gained from this study could be used to modify treatments for people both with HIV and filarial infections. Patients 18 years of age and older who are receiving treatment for HIV infection at the Government Hospital HIV clinic or YRG-Care may be eligible for this study. Two groups of patients will be recruited - patients with both HIV and filarial infections, and patients who have HIV infection alone, without filariasis. Candidates are screened with a medical history and review of medical records, physical examination, and blood and stool tests. Women have a urine pregnancy test. Within one month of screening, all participants receive a single dose of diethylcarbamazine and albendazole, a drug regimen commonly used to treat filarial infection. Patients are followed closely for the first 2 weeks after treatment to check for side effects. They are then seen at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the treatment dose for a physical examination and blood test.
This study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Tuberculosis Research Centre in Chennai, India, will examine how helminth and filarial infections affect the immune response to mycobacteria (the bacteria that causes tuberculosis). Helminths are parasitic worms that infect the gut, and filaria are worms that circulate in the blood and infect various tissues. The findings of this study may affect how tuberculosis is assessed in Chennai, where filarial and helminth infections are common in the population. Patients between 6 and 65 years of age with helminth or filarial infections who do not have active tuberculosis, cancer, AIDS, or other immunosuppressive illness may be eligible for this study. Participants will be recruited from villages in the Chingleput District of Chennai, India. Participants will complete a medical history and physical examination. They will have a blood test to determine red blood cell count and to detect filarial infection, a stool examination to detect helminth infection, and a tuberculin skin test for tuberculosis. Patients with a positive tuberculin test will be treated for tuberculosis and any filarial or helminth infections that may have been detected. Patients whose tuberculin test is negative will be invited to participate in the second part of the study-to determine whether people with either filarial infections or helminth infections, or both, respond to tuberculosis bacteria in the same way as people who do not have these infections. Participants will undergo a review of their medical history, a physical examination, and a blood test to assess red blood cell levels and to look for evidence of filarial or helminth infection. They will then be randomly assigned to receive either albendazole and DEC (anti-helminth and anti-filarial drugs) or a placebo (look-alike tablets that do not contain an active ingredient). Two months later, patients will receive a second dose of the same tablets (placebo or active drug) they took previously, and after another 4 weeks they will be re-tested for tuberculosis. After 6 months (at the end of the study) all participants will receive anti-helminth and anti-filarial drugs and will have a repeat tuberculin skin test. Blood and stool samples will be collected twice in the 6-month period after the initial treatment to determine the levels of antibody against the parasites, to measure the level of infection with filaria, and to measure the level of red blood cells.
This study, conducted by NIH and the University of Bamako in Mali, Africa, will study the effect of concurrent infections with malaria and filariasis on patients' immune response. Lymphatic filariasis is caused by infection with very small parasitic worms called Wuchereria bancrofti that are acquired from mosquitoes. The worms may cause no illness in many who are infected, but is some, they can cause swelling of the arms, legs, breast and genitalia, which may progress to permanent swelling referred to as elephantiasis. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium falciparum, another parasite that is spread by mosquitoes. It can cause fevers, headaches, body aches and weakness, and, if untreated, it can cause severe illness and death. The 8-month study will analyze measures of immune function in blood cells from people with or without filarial infections who become infected with malaria. The goal of the studies is to see if having a filarial worm infection affects immunity against malaria. Results of analysis of immune function in persons with malaria but without filaria infections will be compared with those harboring both filaria and malaria infections and also with results from healthy control subjects. Healthy individuals and patients with malaria and filarial infections between 1 and 8 years of age and between 18 to 65 years of age who live in N'Tessoni and healthy individuals living in Bamako, Mali (controls), may be eligible for this study. Participants have blood samples collected as follows during the study: - A blood sample will be collected at the beginning of the study. Individuals found to have the filarial worm infection have a second sample drawn at nighttime when the filarial worms are present in the blood. Treatment for filaria infection will be offered to all infected individuals at the end of the study. - A second sample will be collected during malaria season. Subjects will be interviewed about their health during the malaria season and re-tested for filarial and malaria infections with a finger-prick test. Those who test positive for malaria will be offered treatment to begin immediately after collection of the donated blood sample.. - A third sample will be collected after the end of the malaria season. Subjects will be interviewed again about their health and re-tested for filarial and malaria infections with a finger prick test. Those who have positive results for either infection will be offered treatment after collec...