Current Prevalence and Distribution of Hydatidosis with Special Reference to the Americas

Abstract. A prevalence and transmission study of human cystic echinococcosis (CE), due to infection with the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, was undertaken in the village of La Paloma in central Uruguay. The human population was registered and screened for CE by abdominal ultrasound scan as well as a number of serologic tests. Dogs were screened for E. granulosus infection by arecoline purgation as well as specific coproantigen testing. The total prevalence of human CE (new cases and those with a previous history) was 5.6% (64 of 1,149); 3.6% (40) of the cases were new ultrasound detected asymptomatic cases (mean age ϭ 45 years). Age prevalence increased from 1.1% in the 4-6-year-old group to Ͼ 11% in the Ͼ 60-year-old group; the 20-29-year-old group had a significantly higher CE rate of 7.4%, compared with younger and older age groups, and there was no difference between sexes. A CE rate of 3.9% (20 of 514) was also recorded by ultrasound for new cases in the population residing outside the village. Most of the hydatid cysts were located in the liver presenting as either univesicular cysts or a solid mass, and of those 71% and 63%, respectively, with such cyst presentations were seropositive against E. granulosus cyst fluid antigens. Two of eight individuals who were filter paper blood spot seropositive, but ultrasound scan negative, were subsequently diagnosed respectively with pulmonary hydatidosis after radiography, and hepatic hydatidosis after computed tomography scan. Of 36 households with a CE patient, 32 were single cases while four households each harbored two CE cases. This did not represent a clustered distribution within families (23 of 117). Almost 20% of the dogs from La Paloma were found infected with E. granulosus after purge examination, with a mean worm number of 67 (range ϭ 1-1,020). An additional eight dogs that were purge negative were Echinococcus coproantigen positive. The study showed that human CE is highly endemic in Uruguay, with one of the highest local prevalence rates in the world. Transmission appears to occur readily within well-developed towns, as well as on rural sheep ranches. Mass screening by ultrasound scanning with confirmatory serologic testing is an effective approach to case detection at the community level.Echinococcosis (CE) is a chronic zoonotic parasitic helminthic disease due to infection with the larval stage (hydatid) of the small dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. The parasite has a global distribution but is particularly prevalent in rural areas where it is transmitted in a cycle between the dog, the definitive host, and the sheep, the intermediate host. 1 In South America, E. granulosus is endemic and a significant public health problem in several countries including Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

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confidence: 99%

“…1 In South America, E. granulosus is endemic and a significant public health problem in several countries including Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Human CE is one of the most important endemic infectious diseases in Uruguay. 6,12 However, recent data on surgical series are unfortunately lacking.…”

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confidence: 99%

Human cystic echinococcosis in a Uruguayan community: a sonographic, serologic, and epidemiologic study.

Cohen¹,

Paolillo²,

Bonifacino³

et al. 1998

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…Hydatidosis is a zoonotic infection caused by tapeworms belonging to the Cestoda class, the Taeniidae family, and the Echinococcus genus. It is transmitted during the larval stages of various species of Echinococcus [8]. The most frequent definitive hosts are dog (for E. granulosus); and fox, dog, and cat (for Echinococcus multilocularis).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intermediate hosts include sheep, cattle, pigs, horses, and camels (for E. granulosus) and rodents (for E. multilocularis); hydatid disease occurs when man becomes an accidental intermediate host by swallowing the eggs of the parasite. The most common sites of echinococcus cysts are the liver (60-70%), brain, and lung, but they may be found in many other locations including the spleen, soft tissues, bone, breast, heart, and the spinal extradural space [8][9][10]. It is quite unusual to find cysts in muscle, exceptionally rare in striated muscle, and these cysts are generally not the primary site [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case report of a primary multiloculate muscular cystic hydatidosis

et al. 2009

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Hydatidosis is a zoonosis caused by the ingestion of Echinococcus granulosus eggs, released though the feces, from infected dogs to humans. Primary localization is mostly hepatic and/or pulmonary, whereas muscular involvement is very rare, even more so in muscular striated tissue. This is the report of a case of a primary intramuscular hydatid cyst in a 79-year-old woman who presented with a 3-year history of a painful lump in her proximal medial left thigh. The authors document the exceptional giant dimensions of the cyst, which have not previously been reported in a case of striated muscular hydatid disease.

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“…Hydatid disease, caused by the larvae of the closely related species Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularies, is either medically or economically the most serious tapeworm infection in every continent [1,2]. The larval parasites can develop not only in a wide variety of hosts, domestic and feral, but in humans as well.…”

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confidence: 99%

Sonography of hepatic echinococcal cysts

Hadidi

1982

Gastrointest Radiol

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One hundred and fifty-one cases of hepatic echinococcal cysts were studied by gray-scale ultrasound. According to their echographic features, the cysts were categorized as follows: (a) discrete cysts (simple, suppurative, and calcified); (b) multiple cysts (linear and racemose); and (c) queer pear-shaped cysts. The spherical or oval shape and the regularity of the walls were common findings in all types of cysts except pear-shaped cysts. The criteria for diagnosis and clues to differentiation are discussed and illustrated.

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Current Prevalence and Distribution of Hydatidosis with Special Reference to the Americas

Cited by 49 publications

References 0 publications

Human cystic echinococcosis in a Uruguayan community: a sonographic, serologic, and epidemiologic study.

Human cystic echinococcosis in a Uruguayan community: a sonographic, serologic, and epidemiologic study.

Case report of a primary multiloculate muscular cystic hydatidosis

Sonography of hepatic echinococcal cysts

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