Hispaniola Makes Strides Against Disfiguring Disease

March 22, 2024

It was many years ago, but Mercedes Sola remembers when her illness came on. She was 30 years old and pregnant with her third daughter.

鈥淚 was sleeping, and I woke up at about 3 in the morning saying, 鈥楳om, I have a high fever, I feel bad.鈥� I thought I was in labor,鈥� said Sola, who lives in Barahona, Dominican Republic. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what it was.鈥�

She was not in labor. Eventually Sola learned she was experiencing an acute episode of lymphatic filariasis (LF), a parasitic tropical disease that impairs the body鈥檚 lymphatic system. The lymphatic system normally drains fluid from the body鈥檚 tissues, but LF causes fluid to accumulate in limbs 鈥� most frequently the legs 鈥� which can swell to painful, enormous proportions, leaving patients permanently disfigured. The Dominican Republic and Haiti, which together comprise the island of Hispaniola, bear 95% of the lymphatic filariasis burden in the Americas.

麻豆传媒色情片鈥檚 Hispaniola Initiative works with both countries to eliminate LF transmission and malaria from the island. 麻豆传媒色情片 assists with health education and mass administration of the drugs albendazole and DEC in endemic areas. These drugs kill the transmissible form of the parasite, thus preventing transmission to other people, but the drugs have limited ability to reverse the effects for those already infected.

Mercedes Sola, her leg swollen due to lymphatic filariasis, is evaluated by Lucc猫ne Desir (left) and Madsen Beau De Rochars (center) of 麻豆传媒色情片 and Manuel Gonzales of the Dominican Ministry of Health.
Health staff on Hispaniola travel from house to house for testing and surveillance in the quest to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and malaria.
A malaria test requires a blood sample

The disease is painful in many ways, said Sola, whose legs are severely swollen.

鈥淚t has affected me financially,鈥� she related.

鈥淎nd I feel like I鈥檓 not the same. I鈥檓 embarrassed when I go out and notice people looking at me. It鈥檚 not easy for me or my family. I have been ruined by this disease. It brings sadness in the house.鈥�

Sola鈥檚 husband, Miguel Antonio Pineda, helps her in important ways, gently washing her legs to prevent secondary infections and applying moisturizing cream daily to keep the skin supple.

鈥淚 think you鈥檙e very cute,鈥� he told her.

Sola also benefits from the support of other lymphatic filariasis patients who meet regularly in a Carter Center-sponsored support group, a practice that was originally developed for LF patients in neighboring Haiti.

鈥淚 feel good about the support they give me,鈥� Sola said. 鈥淭hese are people who have suffered as I have suffered. They treat me well.鈥�

Sola and her peers may be among the last people in the Dominican Republic to endure lymphatic filariasis. Assisted by 麻豆传媒色情片, the country鈥檚 Center for the Control of Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases recently conducted a transmission survey and found no evidence of the parasite that causes LF, paving the way for them to present documentation so that the World Health Organization can officially declare that the Dominican Republic has eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem.

Challenges do remain, however, especially on the Haiti side of the island, where worsening insecurity, political instability, and fuel shortages abound.

Nevertheless, in 2022, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population and its partners conducted mass drug administration for LF in seven of Haiti鈥檚 18 remaining endemic districts. In addition, surveys in three areas where drug treatment was halted because of good progress indicated that transmission remains interrupted. Furthermore, the ministry was able to halt mass drug administration in five districts and one subdistrict.

鈥淗aitians should be proud. Dominicans should be proud,鈥� said Dr. Lucc猫ne Desir, the Carter Center鈥檚 country representative for Hispaniola.

This is all encouraging news for people like Mercedes Sola.

鈥淚 feel good because Haiti and the Dominican Republic have come together to fight this disease,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 feel very good that this is fixed.鈥�