Seroepidemiology of Toxocara Canis infection among primary schoolchildren in the capital area of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Abstract

BackgroundToxocariasis, which is predominantly caused by Toxocara canis (T. canis) infection, is a common zoonotic parasitosis worldwide; however, the status of toxocariasis endemicity in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) remains unknown.MethodsA seroepidemiological investigation was conducted among 166 primary school children (PSC) aged 7–12 years from the capital area of the RMI. Western blots based the excretory-secretory antigens of larval T. canis (TcES) was employed, and children were considered seropositive if their serum reacted with TcES when diluted at a titer of 1:64. Information regarding demographic characteristics of and environmental risk factors affecting these children was collected using a structured questionnaire. A logistic regression model was applied to conduct a multivariate analysis.ResultsThe overall seropositive rate of T. canis infection was 86.75% (144/166). In the univariate analysis, PSC who exhibited a history of feeding dogs at home (OR = 5.52, 95% CI = 1.15–26.61, p = 0.02) and whose parents were employed as nonskilled workers (OR = 2.86, 95% CI = 1.08–7.60, p = 0.03) demonstrated a statistically elevated risk of contracting T. canis infections. Cleaning dog huts with gloves might prevent infection, but yielded nonsignificant effects. The multivariate analysis indicated that parental occupation was the critical risk factor in this study because its effect remained significant after adjusting for other variables; by contrast, the effect of dog feeding became nonsignificant because of other potential confounding factors. No associations were observed among gender, age, consuming raw meat or vegetables, drinking unboiled water, cleaning dog huts with gloves, or touching soil.ConclusionsThis is the first serological investigation of T. canis infection among PSC in the RMI. The high seroprevalence indicates the commonness of T. canis transmission and possible human risk. The fundamental information that the present study provides regarding T. canis epidemiology can facilitate developing strategies for disease prevention and control.

Cerebral Toxocariasis: Silent Progression to Neurodegenerative Disorders?

“…infection is reportedly one of the important childhood zoonotic infections and is more prevalent in African American communities and individuals living in poverty (35). In contrast, higher seroprevalences are reported from developing countries, for example, Nigeria (30%), Brazil (36%), Swaziland (44.6%), Malaysia (58%) Indonesia (63.2%), Nepal (81%), Marshall Islands (86.8%), and La Reunion (93%) (36)(37)(38)(39). However, an accurate analysis of seroprevalences between different countries and studies is hindered by the different methodologies used to detect infections (WB or ELISA), different cutoff titers, and the difficulties in linking infection, titers, and symptomatic disease (19,40).…”

First Report of Toxocara canis Seroprevalence in Military Personnel and Their Families with Eosinophilia Referred to a Military Hospital in Tehran, Iran, 2015 - 2016

“…Due to geophagia habit in young children and poor hygiene, most studies were conducted to evaluate Toxocara infection in schoolchildren with different results due to the geographic location of studies (1,4,6,(26)(27)(28); in other words,…”

“…Humans may be accidentally infected by larva stage of parasite through consumption of embryonated eggs with vegetables, food, geophagia (3), and chicken or cow livers (4).…”

“…Clinical manifestation of human toxocariasis is usually asymptomatic (2,4). Nevertheless, visceral larva migrants (VLM) and ocular larva migrants (OLM) as two major syndromes of toxocariasis in human can be detected (6,7).…”

Toxocarosis y colecistitis aguda alitiásica: ¿consecuencia o coincidencia?

“…www.sochinf.cl huevos embrionados de T. canis a través de las manos contaminadas, ya sea por contacto directo con sus mascotas caninas en especial cachorros, a través del pelaje del perro 6 , o ingestión de vegetales o tierra contaminada con heces caninas 8 , en domicilio o en plazas y parques públicos 5,6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . Los factores de riesgo son las malas condiciones sanitarias e higiénicas, jugar en el suelo, comerse las uñas y la geofagia, así como el contacto con perros en el propio domicilio o callejeros [13][14][15] .…”