SERO PREVALENCE OF TOXARA CANIS IN THE CITY OF CATANIA, ITALY.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Accepted: April 13, 2019
Authors
Toxocariasis is one of the most common helminthiases worldwide. However, there is a lack of data regarding Southern Italy. We have evaluated the seroprevalence and associated environmental factors of toxocariasis in a sample of adults living in the city of Catania.
Presence of anti-Toxocara canis IgG antibodies was searched using an ELISA test using excretory/secretory antigens. Environmental risk factors have beene valuated with a face-to-face questionnaire.
Two hundred eighty-seven subjects (mean age of 48.1±15.6 years) were enrolled, and presence of anti T. canis antibodies was found in 23 participants, of whom 18 (78.3%) were women with a mean age of 51.1±14.0 years, giving a seroprevalence of 8.0% (95%CI 5.4-11.7). At multivariate analysis a positive association for subjects with more than 3 siblings (adjOR 3.17; 95%CI 1.09-9.25) was recorded.
Our study confirms that exposition to T. canis is common also in urban areas of western countries.
Downloads
Citations
2. Schantz PM, Glickman LT. Toxocaral visceral larva migrans. N Engl J Med. 1978; 298(8):436-439. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM197802232980806
3. Taylor MR, Keane CT, O’Connor P, Girdwood RW, Smith H. Clinical features of covert toxocariasis. Scand J Infect Dis. 1987; 19(6):693-696. DOI:10.3109/00365548709117206
4. Deshayes S, Bonhomme J, de La Blanchardière A. Neurotoxocariasis: a systematic literature review. Infection. 2016; 44(5):565-574. DOI: 10.1007/s15010-016-0889-8
5. Hotez PJ. Neglected infections of poverty in the United States of America. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2008; 2(6):e256. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000256
6. Hotez PJ, Gurwith M. Europe’s neglected infections of poverty. Int J Infect Dis. 2011 ; 15(9):e611-619. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2011.05.006
7. Fan C-K, Holland CV, Loxton K, Barghouth U. Cerebral Toxocariasis: Silent Progression to Neurodegenerative Disorders? Clin Microbiol Rev. 2015; 28(3):663-686. doi:10.1128/CMR.00106-14.
8. Genchi C, Di Sacco B, Gatti S, Sangalli G, Scaglia M, 1990. Epidemiology of human toxocariasis in northern Italy. Parassitologia. 32(3):313-319.
9. Habluetzel A, Traldi G, Ruggieri S, Attili AR, Scuppa P, Marchetti R et al. An estimation of Toxocara canis prevalence in dogs, environmental egg contamination and risk of human infection in the Marche region of Italy. Vet Parasitol. 2003, 113(3-4):243-252.
10. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, 2011. 15° Censimento generale della popolazione.
11. Nicoletti A, Messina S, Bruno E, Mostile G, Quattrocchi G, Raciti L et al, Risk factors in multiple sclerosis: a population-based case–control study in Sicily. Background and methods. Neurol Sci. 2016; 37(12):1931-1937. DOI: 10.1007/s10072-016-2685-8
12. de Savigny DH, Voller A, Woodruff AW. Toxocariasis: serological diagnosis by enzyme immunoassay. J Clin Pathol. 1979; 32(3):284-288.
13. Fillaux J, Magnaval J-F. Laboratory diagnosis of human toxocariasis. Vet Parasitol. 2013; 193(4):327-336. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.12.028
14. Berrett AN, Erickson LD, Gale SD, Stone A, Brown BL, Hedges DW. Toxocara Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors in the United States. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017; 97(6):1846-1850. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0542
15. Poeppl W, Herkner H, Tobudic S, Faas A, Mooseder G, Burgmann H et al. Exposure to Echinococcus multilocularis, Toxocara canis, and Toxocara cati in Austria: a nationwide cross-sectional seroprevalence study. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2013; 13(11):798-803. DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2012.1283
