Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Ban·croft·i·an filariasis Pronunciation:
'ban-"krof-tE-&n-, 'ba[ng]- Variant:
or Bancroft's filariasis /-"krof(t)s-/ Function:
noun : filariasis caused by a slender white filaria of the genus
Wuchereria (
W. bancrofti) that is transmitted in larval form bymosquitoes, lives in lymph vessels and lymphoid tissues periodically shedding larvae into the peripheral bloodstream, and often causes elephantiasis by blocking lymphatic drainage
Banácroft /'ban-"kroft, 'ba[ng]-,/ Joseph (1836–1894), British physician. In 1877 Bancroft discovered a species of nematode parasite (
Wuchereria bancrofti) and announced hisdiscovery the following year in an article on filarial disease.
