Abstract
BackgroundCystic echinococcosis (CE) is caused by the larva of tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. Dogs and other canids are the primary definitive hosts for this parasite. CE may develop after accidental ingestion of tapeworm eggs, excreted with the feces of these animals. In the intestine, the larvae released from the eggs are nested in the liver, lungs or other organs of livestock as intermediate hosts and humans as aberrant hosts. The aim of this study was to examine serologically whether some of the patients in Slovenia, suspected of CE by imaging findings in the liver or lungs had been infected with the larva of Echinococcus granulosus.MethodsBetween January 1, 2002 and the end of December 2006, 1323 patients suspected of having echinococcosis were screened serologically by indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA). For confirmation and differentiation of Echinococcus spp. infection, the sera of IHA-positive patients were then retested by western blot (WB).ResultsOut of 127 IHA-positive sera, 34 sera were confirmed by WB and considered specific for CE. Of 34 sera of CE-positive patients sera, 32 corresponded to the characteristic imaging findings of a liver cysts and 2 to those of lung cysts. The mean age of CE-positive patients was 58.3 years. No significant differences were found between the CE-positive patients in regard to their sex.ConclusionIn the study, it was found out that CE was mostly spread in the same area of Slovenia as in the past, but its prevalence decreased from 4.8 per 105 inhabitants in the period 1956–1968 to 1.7 per 105 inhabitants in the period 2002–2006. In spite of the decreased prevalence of CE in the last years, it is suggested that clinicians and public health authorities, especially in the eastern parts of Slovenia where the most CE patients come from, should pay greater attention to this disease in the future.
Highlights
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is caused by the larva of tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus
In 127 of 1323 sera from the patients with suspected echinococcosis, antibodies to Echinococcus spp. with low to high titres were detected by indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA)
Out of IHA-positive sera that were not confirmed by western blot (WB), 74 sera were positive in the low titres 1:32–1:128, 4 were positive in the titre 1:256, and one in the titre 1:512
Summary
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is caused by the larva of tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. The aim of this study was to examine serologically whether some of the patients in Slovenia, suspected of CE by imaging findings in the liver or lungs had been infected with the larva of Echinococcus granulosus. It is 2–7 mm long and is harboured in the intestine of definitive hosts, typically dogs and other canids which are infected by the ingestion of offal containing larval stage of E. granulosus. Following accidental ingestion of these eggs, CE in larval stage may develop in ungulates and sometimes in humans as intermediate hosts, usually in the liver or lung [1]. The aim of this study was to examine serologically whether the Slovenian patients suspected of having cystic echinococcosis had been infected by the larvae of E. granulosus
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