Scott Nowakowski, age 14, of Milwaukee, Wis., for his question:

WHAT IS ELEPHANTIASIS?

Elephantiasis is a skin disease that is most likely found in the tropics. It receives its name because the affected skin become rough like the hide of an elephant.

A small worm usually causes the disease. Mosquitoes carry the worm. When the mosquito bites, the worm enters the body and becomes lodged in the lymph vessels. A rarer type is caused by the streptococcus bacterium.

Fever, roughening of the skin and swelling of a part of the body are the first characteristics of elephantiasis.. Usually the leg is affected.

There is usually a series of attacks, each increasing the swelling of the affected part. The part finally becomes permanently enlarged. There is no known cure but drugs and surgery may give relief