Question
Microfilaria
Answer
Microfilariae are the motile, immature (larval) stage of filarial nematodes (Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, Loa loa), released by adult female worms into the host’s blood/tissue fluid, and constituting the diagnostic/transmissible stage picked up by the arthropod vector.
Structure: thin, thread-like larvae, typically sheathed (W. bancrofti, B. malayi) or unsheathed (Loa loa), with an internal column of somatic nuclei whose arrangement and tail-tip nuclear pattern allow species identification.
Periodicity: W. bancrofti (most strains) — nocturnal periodicity (matching night-biting Culex); Loa loa — diurnal periodicity (matching day-biting Chrysops); some Pacific W. bancrofti strains show subperiodic patterns.
Laboratory diagnosis: thick blood smear microscopy (Giemsa), timed to periodicity; concentration techniques (Knott’s method, membrane filtration); circulating filarial antigen (CFA) test — not periodicity-dependent.

