A Community-Based Study to Estimate the Seroprevalence of Trichinellosis and Echinococcosis in the Roma and Non-Roma Population of Slovakia

Abstract

Trichinellosis and cystic and alveolar echinococcosis are serious parasitic diseases transmissible between animals and humans. Moreover, alveolar echinococcosis is considered one of the most dangerous of human helminthoses. Roma communities are particularly numerous in Central and Eastern Europe. They are often concentrated in economically undeveloped regions and live in segregated localities with unsatisfactory housing and sanitary conditions. The study aimed to find out the seroprevalence of Trichinella and Echinococcus infections in the Roma population of segregated settlements and to compare it with the seropositivity of the non-Roma population of eastern Slovakia. Out of 823 samples, three sera showed seropositivity to Trichinella in the ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test. Subsequent Western blot reaction (WB) confirmed seropositivity in two Roma women. ELISA seropositivity to E. multilocularis was recorded in six persons (0.73%), and five (0.61%) respondents were seropositive to E. granulosus, but WB confirmed the presence of antibodies to Echinococcus spp. in one Roma participant. Positive persons suffered from unspecific clinical symptoms; Trichinella-positive persons reported headache, cough, fatigue, and muscle pain. The Echinococcus-positive participant suffered from headache and back pain. The study showed that the worse living conditions of the Roma community did not significantly influence the occurrence of Trichinella and Echinococcus infections in this minority.

Roma Health: An Overview of Communicable Diseases in Eastern and Central Europe

“…In the HepaMeta population, seropositivity for Trichinella or Echinococcus was 0.5 per cent and 0.2 per cent among Roma tested ( n = 429). However, no significant difference was found with regard to non-Roma ( n = 394) [ 29 ].…”

“…Nevertheless, the authors of this review tentatively state that Roma are at a higher risk of contracting chlamydia, and are more likely to suffer from adverse effects of infection because of the barriers to healthcare which they face [ 23 ]. Drawing from the same HepaMeta population, seropositivity for Trichinella or Echinococcus showed no statistical differences between Roma and non-Roma [ 29 ]. Among a group of IDUs in Budapest, neither the Roma nor the non-Roma IDUs had HIV [ 19 ].…”

“…Notwithstanding the instances mentioned above, Roma have a higher occurrence of communicable diseases than non-Roma. The most common reasons hypothesised by authors for the higher rates of disease are lack of water, poor sanitation and hygiene, crowded living spaces, high-risk sexual behaviours, and exposure to animals and waste [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Regional View on Housing of the Marginalized Roma Population in the Slovak Republic

“…The principle of assigned ethnicity operates via estimates of the number of people who are viewed as Roma in Slovakia. The problem lies in the fact that if a Roma is only a person who declares himself to be of Roma nationality, then we can state that there are only about 2% of Roma in the Slovak Republic [29][30][31], which in absolute numbers represents about 105,000 Roma (Table 2). Only a small percentage of the Roma living in Slovakia acknowledge their Roma origin.…”

“…Compared to the Roma in other countries, the Slovak Roma live more often in settlements and on the outskirts of villages and towns [28][29][30][31]48,49]. The coexistence of the Roma and the non-Roma population is problematic, which causes friction in their mutual relationships [44].…”