Toxocara Infection In Children Research Articles

Seroprevalence and risk factors for Toxocara infection among children in a rural community in Fars province, southern Iran.

The current study was performed to find out the seroprevalence of Toxocara infection in children living in a rural community in Fars province, southern Iran. Venous blood was taken from 617 children and evaluated for anti-Toxocara antibodies, using an ELISA system. Of the 617 studied children, 318 (51.5%) were boys and 299 (48.5%) were girls. Mean age of the participants was 9.2 (±10.7) years. Most cases of the recruited subjects (37.4%) were in the age group of 0-5years. Anti-Toxocara antibodies were detected in sera of 39 (6.3%) of children. From these, 23 (62.2%) were boys and 14 (37.8%) were girls. The infection rate was almost the same in different age groups. No statistically significant differences were seen between seropositivity to Toxocara infection and gender or age of the participants. Dogs or cats ownership was not associated with Toxocara seropositivity. The adjusted associations of the study variables suggested that the visceral leishmaniasis (VL) seropositivity is significantly associated with the seroprevalence of Toxocara infection (P<0.001). Findings of the current study revealed that Toxocara infection is a common infection among children in the studied rural community in Iran. Preventive measurements are necessary to minimize the rate of Toxocara infection in children in such communities.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxocara infection among children in Shandong and Jilin provinces, China

This cross-sectional study was aimed to investigate the Toxocara serology in children in Shandong and Jilin provinces, China using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The overall Toxocara seroprevalence among the study population (n=1458) was 19.3%, sick children (26.4%) had significantly higher seroprevalence than clinically healthy children (14.4%) (P<0.05), and the highest Toxocara seroprevalence was found in children suffering from chronic cough (40.6%), followed by recurrent abdominal pain (40.0%), recurrent headache (38.1%), slight fever (36.2%), and recurrent vomiting (31.6%). Place of residence, education level, type of school, keeping dogs at home, contact with dogs and cats and exposure with soil were found to be associated with Toxocara infection. Our findings show that children infection with Toxocara is common in Shandong and Jilin provinces, eastern and northeastern China, indicating an immediate need for implementing strategies and measures to prevent and control Toxocara infection in children in China.

Risk of human toxocarosis in Poland due to Toxocara infection of dogs and cats.

The purpose of this paper was to present the current data on the risk of toxocarosis in humans in Poland and to give an overview of the clinical and diagnostic aspects of the disease. The number of reported clinical cases of Toxocara infection in children in Poland in medical literature has increased recently. The results of field surveys aimed to evaluate the soil contamination with geohelminth eggs conducted during the last few years showed that Toxocara is the most common zoonotic agent in urban public sites and in rural settlements. The questionnaire revealed rural inhabitants' low awareness of zoonotic parasite threats to humans. In particular parents should be advised as to what proper preventive measures to undertake to eliminate the toxocarosis risk factors for children in rural environment. Prevention of initial environment contamination with Toxocara canis and T. cati eggs, which includes proper treatment regimes to eliminate patent infections in dogs and cats and preventing pets from defecating in public areas and private households is vital. To provide the public with suitably presented information as well as pet owners with uniform recommendations, a close collaboration between veterinary and public health professionals is crucial.

Seroprevalence and risk factors for Toxocara infection in children from an urban large setting in Northeast Brazil

ObjectivesThis study aimed to standardize an “in house” immunoassay to detect anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies in human serum to estimate the seroprevalence of Toxocara infection, and to identify its potential risk factors in children living in poor areas of Salvador, a large northeastern Brazilian city. MethodsParents of 1309 children answered a questionnaire containing possible risk factor for acquisition of this infection. Blood was collected and the presence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies was detected by indirect ELISA using T. canis larval excretory–secretory antigens in sera previously absorbed with Ascaris lumbricoides antigens. ResultsSeroprevalence of Toxocara infection was 48.4%. Children's age, low maternal schooling, contact with dogs and cats, and household located in paved streets were shown to be risk factors for Toxocara infection. ConclusionsThe seroprevalence of Toxocara infection is high among children living in a poor urban setting of Brazil. The association of low maternal education with higher Toxocara infection supports studies showing that low socioeconomic status is a risk factor for the acquisition of this infection as a reflection of hygiene habits of the family. And both infected-dogs and cats may be involved in this parasite transmission in this children population.

Frequency of toxocara infection in children attended by the health public service of Maringá, south Brazil

The lack of specific laboratorial diagnosis methods and precise symptoms makes the toxocariasis a neglected disease in Public Health Services. This study aims to determine the frequency of Toxocara spp. infection in children attended by the Health Public Service of Hospital Municipal de Maringá, South Brazil. To evaluate the association of epidemiological and clinical data, an observational and cross-section study was carried out. From 14,690 attended children/year aged from seven month to 12 years old, 450 serum samples were randomly collected from September/2004 to September/2005. A questionnaire was used to evaluate epidemiological, clinical and hematological data. An ELISA using Toxocara canis larval excretory-secretory products as antigen detected 130 (28.8%) positive sera, mainly between children from seven month to five years old (p = 0.0016). Significant correlation was observed between positive serology for Toxocara, and frequent playing in sandbox at school or daycare center (p = 0.011) and the presence of a cat at home (p = 0.056). From the families, 50% were dog owners which exposed soil backyards. Eosinophilia (p = 0.776), and signs and symptoms analyzed (fever p = 0.992, pneumonia p = 0.289, cold-like symptoms p = 0.277, cough p = 0.783, gastrointestinal problems p = 0.877, migraine p = 0.979, abdominal pain p = 0.965, joint pain p = 0.686 and skin rash p = 0.105) could not be related to the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. Therefore, two asthmatics children showed titles of 1:10,240 and accentuated eosinophilia (p = 0.0001). The authors emphasize the needs of prevention activities.

Nematode infections are risk factors for staphylococcal infection in children.

Nematode infection may be a risk factor for pyogenic liver abscess in children and we hypothesized that the immunomodulation induced by those parasites would be a risk factor for any staphylococcal infection in children. The present study was designed to compare, within the same hospital, the frequency of intestinal nematodes and Toxocara infection in children with and without staphylococcal infections. From October 1997 to February 1998, 80 children with staphylococcal infection and 110 children with other diseases were submitted to fecal examination, serology for Toxocara sp., evaluation of plasma immunoglobulin levels, and eosinophil counts. Mean age, gender distribution, birthplace, and socioeconomic conditions did not differ significantly between the two groups. Frequency of intestinal nematodes and positive serology for Toxocara, were remarkably higher in children with staphylococcal infections than in the non-staphylococcal group. There was a significant correlation between intestinal nematodes or Toxocara infection and staphylococcal infection in children, reinforced by higher eosinophil counts and higher IgE levels in these children than in the control group. One possible explanation for this association would be the enhancement of bacterial infection by the immunomodulation induced by helminth infections, due to strong activation of the Th2 subset of lymphocytes by antigens from larvae and adult worms.

Prevalence of anti-Toxocara antibodies in a random sample of inpatients at a children's hospital in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.

In the streets of Vitória, in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, are large number of stray dogs, many of which are infected with Toxocara canis, suggesting a high risk for human infection. In order to investigate the prevalence of Toxocara infection in children in Espírito Santo we studied the prevalence of anti-Toxocara antibodies in 100 random inpatients over one year of age, at the Children's Hospital N.S. da Glória, the reference children's hospital for the State. All the sera were collected during the period between October 1996 and January 1997. The mean age was 6.6 +/- 4.1 yrs. (1 to 14 yrs., median 6 yrs.) and there were patients from all of the different wards of the hospital. Sixty-eight patients came from the metropolitan area of Vitória and the other 32 from 17 other municipalities. The anti-Toxocara antibodies were investigated by ELISA-IgG using a secretory-excretory antigen obtained from second stage larvae. All sera were adsorbed with Ascaris suum antigen before the test. Thirty-nine sera (39%) were positive, predominantly from boys, but the gender difference was not statistically significant (boys: 25/56 or 44.6%; girls: 14/44 or 31.8%; p = 0.311). The prevalence of positive sera was higher, but not statistically significant, in children from the urban periphery of metropolitan Vitória (formed by the cities of Vitória, Cariacica, Vila Velha, Serra and Viana) than in children from 17 other municipalities (44.1% and 28.1% respectively, p = 0.190). Although the samples studied do not represent all children living in the State of Espírito Santo, since the Children's Hospital N.S. da Glória admits only patients from the state health system, it is probable that these results indicate a high frequency of Toxocara infection in children living in Espírito Santo. Further studies of population samples are necessary to ascertain the prevalence of Toxocara infection in our country.

Toxocara infection in children and the relation with allergic manifestations.

Toxocara infection in children and the relation with allergic manifestations.