Title
Frequency of eosinophilia and risk factors and their association with Toxocara infection in schoolchildren during a health survey in the North of Lima, Peru
Date Issued
01 September 2008
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Atúncar A.
Ortega E.
Martinez A.
Saravia M.
Abstract
During a health survey in a primary school from the district of Carabayllo (North of Lima, Peru), 200 schoolchildren (96 male and 104 female between five to 12 years old) were randomly selected and divided in two groups (as positive or negative group), according to the serologic result of the Toxocara ELISA test from a total population of 646 schoolchildren. All children were analyzed by hematologic tests to determinate the frequency of eosinophilia and leukocytosis. Additionally, all clinical and epidemiological data were also analyzed to determine their association with toxocariasis. From group of children with positive serology, 40% had some type of eosinophilia in contrast to 19% of children with negative serology, and their association was statistically significant (OR = 2.84, p < 0.001). From all signs and symptoms evaluated, only 'dry cough' was more frequent and statistically significant in the positive serology group (OR = 2.79, p < 0.001). Almost all risk factors evaluated were highly frequent and statistically associated to the positive serology. In conclusion, the presence of eosinophilia and the risk factors evaluated in this population were frequently associated to human toxocariasis.
Start page
273
End page
278
Volume
50
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Parasitología
Tecnología médica de laboratorio (análisis de muestras, tecnologías para el diagnóstico)
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-56049121744
PubMed ID
Source
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo
ISSN of the container
16789946
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus