<unk>  infection occurs when a larva carrying mosquito bites an individual, introducing these larvae into the skin. The larvae then enters the patient's blood through the skin wound and spread to the different sites such as lymphatic vessels, subcutaneous tissues or the serous cavities. At these sites, the larvae matures in a six to twelve months period into the adult filariae which can live up to fifteen years. Reproduction takes place between the male and female adult worms producing microfilariae which are premature organisms with sheath that circulate the blood in case they are settled in the lymphatic vessels. During another blood meal, the mosquito takes up the microfilariae, then these microfilariae lose their sheath within two weeks to be larvae that enter the human body. When a human is bitten by a mosquito, the cycle restarts again. Pathogenesis of the disease depends on number of factors including immune response of the patient, the number of secondary bacterial infections, the accumulation of the worm antigens, release of Wolbachia bacteria from the worm and the genetic predisposition.
Filariasis pathophysiology
Malaria pathophysiology
Schistosomiasis pathophysiology
Cyclosporiasis pathophysiology
Cryptosporidiosis pathophysiology
Microsporidiosis pathophysiology
African trypanosomiasis pathophysiology
Ebola pathophysiology