Toxocara Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors Among Ilam Children, West of Iran

Abstract

Background: Human toxocariasis is caused by Toxocara canis and cati, which are the main ascarids of dogs and cats, respectively. Most infected humans are asymptomatic and our understanding of human disease burden is limited by lack of epidemiological studies and insufficient clinical awareness. Objectives: There is no precise report on the seroprevalence of toxocariasis in Ilam children. Therefore, this study found an opportunity to investigate this subject. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 300 sera of children aged between 2 to 15 years old were collected during March 2016 to February 2017 in urban and rural areas. Demographic variables were filled for each person in accordance with risk factors along with sampling. Some hematological parameters were measured. The sera were examined for anti Toxocara canis and cati antibodies, according to the ELISA kit protocol. Results: Among a total of 300 serum samples, 35 (11.7%) were positive for anti-Toxocara IgG. The infection rates were 5.3% and 6.3% in female and male, respectively. There was no significant relationship between gender and Toxocara infection rates (P = 0.59). A total of 26 (17.3%) of the 150 rural children, and nine (6.0%) of the 150 urban children were positive. There was a significant relationship between place of living with ELISA tests results (P = 0.004). Hematologic parameters showed a significant increase in the numbers of peripheral eosinophil in the sample of patients whose sera were positive (P = 0.037). Conclusions: High prevalence of toxocariasis among Ilam children in the west of Iran can be considered as a public health problem. The evaluating infection control programs in dog and cats are necessary for controlling the disease in this region.

Environmental soil contamination by <i>Toxocara</i> species eggs in public places of Ilam, Iran

“…The presented study is the first to identify and estimate soil contamination of Toxocara eggs in Ilam. However, studies have been conducted on the prevalence of human toxocariasis among different individuals, including children, pregnant women and diabetic patients in this region [27,28]. The current study describes soil contamination with Toxocara spp.…”

Seroprevalence of Human Toxocariasis in Children (5–15-Year-Old) Using ELISA Method in Ardabil District, North-West of Iran

“…Keeping the dogs at home as a risk factor for human toxocariasis is debatable. Some authors have reported higher rates of infection for those who have been in contact with dogs, while others have found no association between keeping dogs and toxocariasis; however, contact with dogs is important in human infection with toxocariasis ( 14 , 29 – 31 ).…”

Prevalence of antibodies toToxocara canisand its associated risk factors in socio‐economically deprived nomadic communities of Pakistan

“…It might have resulted in insufficiency in adopting precautionary measures thus making them more prone to be infected with T. canis. The association of higher disease rates with poor literacy rate and knowledge about diseases is well documented in literature (Castro-Sánchez et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2020;Ullah et al, 2018).…”

“…In nomadic populations, this association might be attributed to their poor educational status, poor personal hygiene, and lack of awareness about zoonotic transmission of disease from affected dogs to human beings. Findings of this study revealed a non-significant correlation of seroprevalence of T. canis with exposure to soil and hand washing after exposure to soil.Previously, Fecková et al (2020) andKhoshnood et al (2019) also reported a nonsignificant correlation in Slovakia and the west of Iran, respectively. There are several reports on contamination of soil with eggs of T. canis and prolonged survival of its eggs in soil indicating the exposure to soil as a potential risk determinant for T. canis infection(Papavasilopoulos et al, 2018;Thomas & Jeyathilakan, 2014).Contrary to our findings, Aghamolaie et al (2019), Fouladvand and Barazesh (2020) and Wang et al (2020) reported a significant correlation between contact with soil and T. canis seropositivity in northern Iran, Bushehr Iran, and central China, respectively.…”

“…Studies also revealed that toxocariasis is more prevalent in children (Foroutan et al, 2022; Heidari et al, 2022). Low parental education status, bad sanitary conditions and geophagia were the main associated factors that pre‐disposed T. canis infection among children (Khoshnood et al, 2019).…”