The concentration of Mansonella ozzardi microfilariae in skin capillaries

The densities of microfilariae of Mansonella ozzardi in different regions of the body of infected individuals were studied. The density in venous blood closely approximated to that found in finger capillaries, but was significantly lower than the densities in capillaries of the scapular region and buttocks. A possible explanation for this concentration of microfilariae is the lack of glomi in these two sites, which consequently have a lower flow of blood than areas where glomi occur and where microfilarial densities are lower. No relationship was found between blood and skin densities in the buttocks and scapular region, probably due to the inadequacy of the skin snip method used for the detection of this species of filaria. It was concluded that the most acceptable detection method for M. ozzardi remains the sampling of finger capillary blood. It could not be decided, due to the paucity of data, whether any relationship exists between skin microfilarial densities and the biting sites of the vectors.