Title
Clinical significance of neurocysticercosis in endemic villages
Date Issued
01 January 1997
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
University of Cambridge
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
Cerebral cysticercosis is the main cause of late-onset epilepsy in most developing countries. Data on the neuroepidemiology of cysticercosis in endemic populations is scarce. In an endemic village on the northern coast of Peru, 49 individuals with neurological symptomatology (41 epileptic and 8 non-epileptic) were screened for antibodies to Taenia solium, using a serum electroimmunotransfer blot assay. Fifteen subjects were seropositive, 14 (34%) of those with epilepsy but only one (13%) of those who were non-epileptic. A history of passing proglottides was associated with positive serology. Thirteen of the 15 seropositive individuals underwent cerebral computed tomography; only 7 (54%) were abnormal. A randomly selected sample of 20 pigs from the village was also tested, and 6 (30%) were seropositive. This study demonstrated the importance of cysticercosis in the aetiology of epilepsy in endemic villages and the close relationship between porcine and human infection.
Start page
176
End page
178
Volume
91
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas Neurociencias
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-12644301233
PubMed ID
Source
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
00359203
Sponsor(s)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases / U01AI035894.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus