Human Cysticercosis in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Cysticercosis in among the neglected tropical disease caused by eating the egg of parasite Taenia solium. In this review, we aimed to verify the prevalence of human cysticercosis in different countries of Asia using systematic review and meta-analysis approach.
 Methods: Based of the protocol, reliable databases including PubMed, SCOPUS, Science Direct, Embase, and Cochrane Library from 1990-2018 were searched using a panel of keywords. Overall, 48 countries of Asia were searched in turn and data were analyzed using a category of statistical tests.
 Results: Out of 28 included studies, 586175 samples were collected and included in the data analysis. Based on the meta-analysis results, the overall pooled percent of cysticercosis was estimated 3.8% (95% CI: [2.0, 7.0]). According to the result of heterogeneity statistics including I-squared, chi-square, and tau-squared, it was statistically significant (Tau2 = 2.94, chi2 = 12733.31, P<0.001, I2 = 100%) therefore a random effect model was used to handle the heterogeneity of studies. To evaluate the trend of cysticercosis over the time, Cumulative meta-analysis was performed and the result showed that there was a minor upward tendency in the prevalence of cysticercosis over the time.
 Conclusion: Although, considering the religious culture and food habits in Asia, we might have expected to witness a low prevalence of human cysticercosis, but we noticed more or less significant infection in some countries of the region. Regarding the new feature of immigration and travel between countries, all authorities are advised to take measures on controlling and monitoring the disease.

Asymptomatic isolated intramuscular cysticercosis in diabetic patient: a case report

“…6 Taenia solium was endemic in multiple areas of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and China. 9 In Indonesia, the highest prevalence for cysticercosis were found in North Sumatra, Bali, and Papua. The seroprevalence of cysticercosis in Bali ranged from 5.2 to 21% during 1981-1997.…”

A Large Case Series of Neurocysticercosis in Kuwait, a Nonendemic Arabian Gulf Country in the Middle East Region

“…The majority (98 of 150, 65.3%) of NCC patients in Kuwait were expatriates. Although the country of origin of 20 subjects was not known, the most common countries of origin for the remaining expatriates were India (55 of 150, 36.7%) and Nepal (12 of 150, 8%), which are taeniasis-endemic countries [4,7,45]. Although data on the exact time of entry of these expatriate NCC patients in Kuwait were not available, their majority had been residing in Kuwait for several years and had not travelled to their country of origin for nearly 4-5 years before their presentation.…”

“…It is estimated that 80% of the world's 50 million cysticercosis cases live in poor, developing countries. Cysticercosis is highly endemic in Latin American, sub-Saharan Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, where domestic pig husbandry is practiced, and is estimated to affect between 2.56-8.30 million individuals [4][5][6][7][8][9]. NCC is a debilitating yet preventable neurological manifestation that causes severe progressive headache and up to 70% of preventable epilepsy cases in T. solium-endemic countries [1,3,10].…”

“…The growing number of immigrants from endemic areas, increased tourism, and international business affairs have rendered people from nonendemic areas more susceptible to acquiring taeniasis and cysticercosis [11]. Human cysticercosis is increasingly recognized in the developed and industrialized nonendemic countries of Western Europe, North America, and Australia likely due to increased pork consumption, immigration, and international travel [7,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. On the other hand, taeniasis/cysticercosis is more common in Eastern Europe, where regulatory inspections and oversight are compromised due to various socioeconomic and political developments [21].…”

Rapid Detection of Cysticercus cellulosae by an Up-Converting Phosphor Technology-Based Lateral-Flow Assay

“…Cysticercosis is an important zoonotic parasitic disease, which is mainly caused by eating Taenia solium larvae by mistake. ( Bizhani et al., 2020 ). This disease is distributed worldwide and is widely prevalent in some relatively backward countries and regions, such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America ( Hamamoto et al., 2020 ).…”