Treatment:
Drug of choice is Dethylcarbamazine(DEC) trade name in US is Hetrazan.
Treatment schedule starts with 2 mg /kg per day 3 times a day for three weeks in tablet form.
DEC kills the micro filariae quickly and injures or kills the adult worms slowly if at all. If the adult worm is not killed, remaining paired males and females may continue to produce more larvae. Therefore several courses of DEC treatments over a long period of time may be needed.
Side affects of DEC may include:
Fever - Chills - Headache - Dizziness- Nausea- Vomiting - Itching- Joint Pain
These usually occur the first few days of treatments, but usually subside as patient continues to take DEC.