Title
Seizures, cysticercosis and rural-to-urban migration: The PERU MIGRANT study
Date Issued
01 April 2015
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Abstract
Objectives: To examine the prevalence of seizures, epilepsy and seropositivity to cysticercosis in rural villagers (cysticercosis-endemic setting), rural-to-urban migrants into a non-endemic urban shanty town and urban inhabitants of the same non-endemic shanty town. Methods: Three Peruvian populations (n = 985) originally recruited into a study about chronic diseases and migration were studied. These groups included rural inhabitants from an endemic region (n = 200), long-term rural-to-urban migrants (n = 589) and individuals living in the same urban setting (n = 196). Seizure disorders were detected by a survey, and a neurologist examined positive respondents. Serum samples from 981/985 individuals were processed for cysticercosis antibodies on immunoblot. Results: Epilepsy prevalence (per 1000 people) was 15.3 in the urban group, 35.6 in migrants and 25 in rural inhabitants. A gradient in cysticercosis antibody seroprevalence was observed: urban 2%, migrant 13.5% and rural group 18% (P < 0.05). A similarly increasing pattern of higher seroprevalence was observed among migrants by age at migration. In rural villagers, there was strong evidence of an association between positive serology and having seizures (P = 0.011) but such an association was not observed in long-term migrants or in urban residents. In the entire study population, compared with seronegative participants, those with strong antibody reactions (≥ 4 antibody bands) were more likely to have epilepsy (P < 0.001). Conclusions: It is not only international migration that affects cysticercosis endemicity; internal migration can also affect patterns of endemicity within an endemic country. The neurological consequences of cysticercosis infection likely outlast the antibody response for years after rural-to-urban migration.
Start page
546
End page
552
Volume
20
Issue
4
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Parasitología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84924269351
PubMed ID
Source
Tropical Medicine and International Health
ISSN of the container
13602276
Sponsor(s)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases P01AI051976, U01AI035894 Fogarty International Center D43TW001140 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke R01NS054805 Medical Research Council MR/K007467/1
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus