Toxocariasis in children attending a Public Health Service Pneumology Unit in Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

SUMMARYThe enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most widely used tool to detect anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies for both serodiagnostic and seroepidemiological surveys on human toxocariasis. In the last eight years a high prevalence of toxocariasis (32.2-56.0%) has been reported in children attending public health units from municipalities in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Therefore, the aim of this work was to compare the frequency found among the general child population with that of children attending a public pneumology service in Maringá, Paraná, Brazil and describe the laboratorial, clinical and epidemiological findings. The research was conducted at the Consórcio Público Intermunicipal de Saúde do Setentrião Paranaense (CISAMUSEP) from July 2009 to July 2010 among children aged between one and 15 years. From a total of 167 children studied, only 4.2% (7/167) tested positive for anti-Toxocara spp. IgG antibodies and presented mild eosinophilia (2/7), increased serum IgE levels (6/7) and a positive allergy test for mites (5/7). The presence of pets (dogs or cats) at home did not correlate with the seroprevalence. In conclusion, cases of toxocariasis involving the respiratory tract are rare in children attending a public health pneumology unit in the northwestern region of Paraná State, despite the high prevalence of this type of toxocariasis among the infantile population attending Basic Health Units in the same geographical area.

Prevalence of zoonotic helminths in Italian house dogs

“…Serological findings (seroprevalence of 1.6-14.5%) indicate that human infection with T. canis also occurs in Italy, with highest values in young subjects, adult epileptics, Strongyloides stercoralis-infected patients, and outdoors or soil related workers [42][43][44]. It is worthy of note that the presence of pets at home is not correlated with seroprevalence [45], while the most important factor that increases the seropositivity in human beings is represented by the habit of frequenting public soils contaminated with a high load of infectious Toxocara eggs [46]. These observations highlight that Toxocara infections in people mainly originate through a saprozoonotic route, i.e.…”

A Systematic Review of Toxocariasis: A Neglected But High-Prevalence Disease in Brazil

“…10,27,[30][31][32]36,40 In all of these studies, a higher proportion of patients with asthma was found among those infected with Toxocara, which lends this infection greater relevance in terms of public health.…”

“…10,[24][25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33][34][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] One study did not describe the diagnostic methodology applied. 35 As T. canis and T. cati cannot be distinguished serologically, we identified the study population as having toxocariasis.…”

Parasites and allergy: Observations from Brazil

“…As for STH infections, human infections with the cosmopolitan helminth Toxocara, have been associated with allergy in humans . Toxocara is a zoonotic infection that is unable to develop to adulthood in the human host.…”

“…70 As for STH infections, human infections with the cosmopolitan helminth Toxocara, have been associated with allergy in humans. [71][72][73][74][75] Toxocara is a zoonotic infection that is unable to develop to adulthood in the human host. The infection is caused by contact with an environment contaminated with faeces from dogs infected with Toxocara canis and cats with Toxocara cati.…”