Title
Human Toxocariasis: A Seroepidemiological survey in the Amazonian city of Yurimaguas, Peru
Date Issued
01 January 2010
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of the infection by Toxocara in the general population of the Amazonian city of Yurimaguas, Peru. From March to August 2008, a total of 300 subjects were sampled and tested by means of a Toxocara ELISA-IgG test. A clinical and epidemiological questionnaire was used to assess the symptomatology and risk factors associated with human toxocariasis. The overall rate of seropositivity was 35.66%, with a significant high proportion in children (p < 0.001). The clinical evaluation revealed that 95.33% of the seropositive group had some type of symptomatology: headache (66.36%), respiratory compromise (63.55%), abdominal pain (54.21%), cutaneous signs (40.19%) and ocular manifestations (36.45%), and almost all of them were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Furthermore, 56.07% of the seropositive subjects presented at least one intestinal pathogen parasite with predominance of helminthes, but without significant association (p = 0.334). The analysis of risk factors showed only that the use of public places and geophagia exhibited a significant association with the seropositivity (p < 0.001). Clinical, serological and epidemiological findings associated to infection with Toxocara were observed in the present study and future studies should be done to assess this serious health problem.
Start page
37
End page
42
Volume
52
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Tecnología médica de laboratorio (análisis de muestras, tecnologías para el diagnóstico) Parasitología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-77949739936
Source
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo
ISSN of the container
00364665
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus