TY - JOUR AU - Nicoletti, Alessandra AU - Cicero, Calogero Edoardo AU - Mantella, Antonia AU - Giuliano, Loretta AU - Rascunà, Cristina AU - Paradisi, Vincenza AU - Bartoloni, Alessandro AU - Zappia, Mario AU - Sofia, Vito PY - 2019/04/27 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - SERO PREVALENCE OF TOXARA CANIS IN THE CITY OF CATANIA, ITALY. JF - Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases JA - Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis VL - 11 IS - 1 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.4084/mjhid.2019.031 UR - https://www.mjhid.org/mjhid/article/view/2019.031 SP - e2019031 AB - <p>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.</p><p>Presence of anti-<em>Toxocara canis</em> IgG antibodies was searched using an ELISA test using excretory/secretory antigens. Environmental risk factors have beene valuated with a face-to-face questionnaire.</p><p>Two hundred eighty-seven subjects (mean age of 48.1±15.6 years) were enrolled, and presence of anti <em>T. canis</em> 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.</p><p>Our study confirms that exposition to <em>T. canis</em> is common also in urban areas of western countries.</p> ER -