PONDICHERRY, India, March 2 (UPI) -- Researchers in India say lymphatic filariasis, which causes limbs and genitals to fill with fluid and swell, could be treated by treating salt with a drug.
In a systematic review of 21 studies, Srividya Adinarayanan of the Vector Control Research Center in Pondicherry, India, found that DEC-medicated salt -- salt treated with the drug diethylcarbamazine, or DEC -- is effective at reducing transmission of the disease, also known as elephantiasis, if maintained for at least six months.
The researchers also said that the salt treatment can eliminate transmission entirely if used over a long period of time.
The review, published in The Cochrane Library, also suggests that a very low dose of DEC over an extended period is better than larger doses given at one time.
DEC is effective at getting rid of adult worms and very good at killing off the baby worms, which transmit the disease to others via mosquitoes.
While the drug is effective and appears to have few side effects, the reviewers add "political and administrative commitment and community motivation is a necessity for community programs to be successful."
