[Wuchereria bancrofti: value of the diethylcarbamazine provocation test for the diurnal detection of microfilaria carriers].

Sixty-nine of 83 (83%) patients with circulating microfilariae of nocturnally periodic Wuchereria bancrofti were detected in daytime blood films following the one-time administration of diethylcarbamazine at a dose per patient of 1 +/- .25 mg/kg of body weight. This method of detecting microfilaria carriers in Haiti is recommended as a reasonably sensitive alternative when circumstances make it impossible to conduct a nighttime blood survey.