The examination--time/dose interval in the provocation of nocturnally periodic microfilariae of Wuchereria bancrofti with diethylcarbamazine and the practical uses of the test.

The administration of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) in the daytime in areas where microfilariae (mf) of Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia malayi exhibit nocturnal periodicity provokes mf to enter the peripheral blood. The importance of relating the dose of DEC and time when the blood specimen is taken is emphasized. The main practical uses of this provocative day test are as a routine diagnostic tool, in estimating prevalence and density of mf in a community, as a preliminary screening method for assessing potential filaricides nd in evaluating the parasitological response to mass chemotherapy.