Filariasis Eradication Program Begins at Holy Cross Hospital

For more than 25 years Holy Cross Hospital has collaborated with researchers from the United States to treat and control the mosquito-borne infection called filariasis. Infection with this worm may result in deformed, gigantic legs. Legs become so deformed that they may somewhat resemble those of an elephant, thus giving the disease a more commonly known name, “elephantiasis.”

Approximately 30 percent of the inhabitants of the town of Leogane and its immediate surrounding areas are infected with the parasite. With a very successful program of leg and foot care for patients, Holy Cross Hospital was selected by the World Health Organization as one of the few sites in the world to pilot a new program to eradicate the disease.

This control program undertook mass treatment of the entire Commune in the fall of 2000 and is now following up the results of their work to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment campaign in eliminating this infection from Leogane. The program workers also gathered important epidemiological information about the prevalence and transmission of this parasitic infection through out Haiti. Taking this control program beyond Leogane is the next step in an attempt to eradicate or greatly limit this parasite from the entire country.