tropical eosinophilia

tropical pulmonary eosinophilia a subacute or chronic form of occult filariasis, usually involving Brugia malayi, Wuchereria bancrofti, or filariae that infect animals; it occurs in the tropics, especially in India, where some groups may have a genetic predisposition for the disease. It is characterized by episodic nocturnal wheezing and coughing, strikingly elevated eosinophilia, and diffuse reticulonodular infiltrations of the lung. Microfilariae are seldom detected in peripheral blood films since the parasites are confined primarily to the lungs. However, there is evidence of both humoral and cellular immunity to the filariae, and the illness often improves following antifilarial chemotherapy. Called also filarial hypereosinophilia and Weingarten syndrome.