DBL-Centre for Health Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 57, 1871, Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
Parasitol Res. 2013 Jan;112(1):35-44. doi: 10.1007/s00436-012-3226-x. Epub 2012 Dec 13.
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a disabling and disfiguring disease resulting from a mosquito-borne parasitic infection. It is a major public health problem in many countries with a warm climate. Research and control activities have mainly focused on LF in rural areas where it also has its major impact. However, with rapid and unplanned growth of cities in the developing world, there is a need also to consider LF transmission and control in urban settings. Here, we review currently available knowledge on urban LF and the environmental and socio-economic basis for its occurrence. Among the three parasite species causing LF in humans, only Wuchereria bancrofti has been documented to have a significant potential for urban transmission. This is primarily because one of its vectors, Culex quinquefasciatus, thrives and proliferates excessively in crowded city areas with poor sanitary, sewerage and drainage facilities. For this reason, urban LF also often shows a marked focality in distribution, with most cases clustered in areas inhabited by the less privileged city populations. More knowledge on urban LF is needed, in particular on its socio-economic and human behavioural context, on the potential for transmission in regions where other LF vector species predominate, and on rapid methods for identification and mapping of risk areas, to provide a strong evidence base for its control.
淋巴丝虫病（LF）是一种由蚊子传播的寄生虫感染引起的使人致残和毁容的疾病。它是许多气候温暖的国家的一个主要公共卫生问题。研究和控制活动主要集中在农村地区，那里也是 LF 的主要影响地区。然而，随着发展中国家城市的快速和无计划增长，也需要考虑在城市环境中传播和控制 LF。在这里，我们回顾了目前关于城市 LF 的知识，以及其发生的环境和社会经济基础。在导致 LF 的三种人类寄生虫中，只有班氏丝虫被证明具有在城市中进行大量传播的巨大潜力。这主要是因为它的一种传播媒介，也就是库蚊，在卫生、污水和排水设施较差的拥挤城市地区大量繁殖和过度繁殖。出于这个原因，城市 LF 的分布也常常呈现出明显的集中性，大多数病例都集中在居住着城市中较贫困人群的地区。需要更多关于城市 LF 的知识，特别是关于其社会经济和人类行为背景、在其他 LF 传播媒介占主导地位的地区传播的潜力，以及快速识别和绘制风险区域的方法，为其控制提供强有力的证据基础。
