Seroepidemiology of Toxocariasis in Children (5-15 Yr Old) Referred to the Pediatric Clinic of Imam Hossein Hospital, Isfahan, Iran



Hosseinisafa A^{1, 2} ; Mousavi SM³ ; Bahadoran Bagh Badorani M³ ; Ghatreh Samani M⁴ ; Mostafaei S⁵ ; Yousofi Darani H^{3, 6} Show Affiliations
Source: Iranian Journal of Parasitology Published:2015

Abstract

Background: Human toxocariasis, a helminthozoonosis, is due to the migration of Toxocara species larvae into human organisms. Humans, especially children become infected by ingesting of embryonated eggs from soil, dirty hands, and raw vegetables. Seroprevalence of this infection is high in developed countries, especially in rural areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroepidemiology of Toxocariasis in chil-dren referred to the pediatric clinic of Imam Hossein hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Methods: In this cross sectional study the sera of children aged 5 to 15 years old, ad-mitted to Imam Hossein Pediatric Hospital were collected during 2013-14. Then the sera were examined for anti Toxocara canis antibodies using commercial ELISA kit. Results: From 427 children, 196 (45.9%) were female and 231(54.1%) were male. 107(25.1%) were from rural and 320 (74.9%) were from urban area. Of them 129 (30.2%) were contacted with dog. One child (0.2%) had hypereosinophilia, 33 (7.7%) eosinophlia, and 6 (1.39%) were positive for T. canis IgG (two male and four female). Four of infected children with T. canis were from urban (1.25%) and two from rural areas (1.9%). There was no significant correlation between education of parents, gen-der, age, place of living and contact with dog with ELISA results test. Conclusion: Toxocariasis is prevalent in the children of Isfahan region. Results sug-gest a low Toxocara exposure in children in this area. Therefore, more risk factors asso-ciated with Toxocara exposure should be identified in the further investigation. © 2015, Iranian Journal of Parasitology. All right reserved.