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Background: Toxocariasis is a worldwide-distributed helminth parasitic infection. This study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of human toxocariasis in children living in Ardabil Province, North-West of Iran. Methods: A seroepidemiological study to evaluate human toxocariasis among urban and rural populations of Ardabil County, North-West of Iran using ELISA test was carried out from 2019 to 2020. The study population was 472 children (185 females and 287 males) aged between 5 and 15 yr old. Immunoglobulin G antibodies against Toxocara spp. were analyzed by ELISA test. Results: Of the 472 collected serum samples, 66 (14.0%) were positive for antibodies against human toxocariasis. The highest prevalence of infection was observed in children with age groups of 5-6 years. Data demonstrate higher seroprevalence among males (15.3%) than females (11.8%). Rural areas prevalence was significantly higher (24.4%) than the urban area (8.65%). The rate of the diseases was 22.8% in children having history of contact with dog. Conclusion: Toxocariasis is prevalent in the children of Ardabil region. The present study can increase the awareness of the population about the risk of zoonotic diseases as well as the anthelmintic treatment of dogs by veterinarians and, more importantly, the control of stray dogs.

Human toxocariasis is a neglected tropical disease, which is actually global in distribution and has a significant impact on global public health. The infection can lead to several serious conditions in humans, including allergic, ophthalmic and neurological disorders such as epilepsy. It is caused by the common roundworm species Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati, with humans becoming accidentally infected via the ingestion of eggs or larvae. Toxocara eggs are deposited on the ground when infected dogs, cats and foxes defecate, with the eggs contaminating crops, grazing pastures, and subsequently food animals. However, transmission of Toxocara to humans via food consumption has received relatively little attention in the literature. To establish the risks that contaminated food poses to the public, a renewed research focus is required. This review discusses what is currently known about food-borne Toxocara transmission, highlighting the gaps in our understanding that require further attention, and outlining some potential preventative strategies which could be employed to safeguard consumer health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxocariasis is a worldwide-distributed helminth parasitic infection. This study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of human toxocariasis in children living in Ardabil Province, North-West of Iran. Methods: A seroepidemiological study to evaluate human toxocariasis among urban and rural populations of Ardabil County, North-West of Iran using ELISA test was carried out from 2019 to 2020. The study population was 472 children (185 females and 287 males) aged between 5 and 15 yr old. Immunoglobulin G antibodies against Toxocara spp. were analyzed by ELISA test. Results: Of the 472 collected serum samples, 66 (14.0%) were positive for antibodies against human toxocariasis. The highest prevalence of infection was observed in children with age groups of 5-6 years. Data demonstrate higher seroprevalence among males (15.3%) than females (11.8%). Rural areas prevalence was significantly higher (24.4%) than the urban area (8.65%). The rate of the diseases was 22.8% in children having history of contact with dog. Conclusion: Toxocariasis is prevalent in the children of Ardabil region. The present study can increase the awareness of the population about the risk of zoonotic diseases as well as the anthelmintic treatment of dogs by veterinarians and, more importantly, the control of stray dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxocara is one of the most prevalent nematodes in Iran, which infect humans as an intermediate host. Infection complications result from the larva migration. Human toxocariasis prevalence was various in Iran according to the area of study and population. This study was designed to evaluate the seropositivity of Toxocara IgG in patients with blood disorders and cancer patients in southwest Iran. Moreover, the study of the associated risk factors for this infection. A total of 1122 serum samples, from February 8, 2019 to August 21, 2019, including 600 healthy individuals and 522 individuals with cancer and blood disorders patients were collected. Serum samples were collected for detection of Toxocara IgG by using ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) kit. Sociodemographic data of all participants were collected and examined to determine their association with the infection. Out of 101 individuals with white blood cell disorders (5.94%), red blood cell disorders (7.48%) and cancer patients (11.06%) were seropositive for Toxocara IgG antibodies. The infection rate among all study population revealed that (10.76%) were positive for Toxocara IgG. This study showed the fundamental role of contact with pets and infection in groups with blood cell disorders (P-value ≤ 0.05%); while in cancer patients the association wasn't significant. Other factors such as age, location of residence, and sex showed that the association with this infection wasn't significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although raw or undercooked livestock meat or viscera has been suggested to be a source of human toxocariasis, there have been few reports on the prevalence of Toxocara larvae in the tissue of livestock animals. To investigate the presence of Toxocara larvae in chickens, we examined 50 culled chickens from a commercial layer farm. The liver, breast meat, and thigh meat were separated individually and artificially digested to examine for the presence of larvae. Nematode larvae were detected in 2 out of 50 chickens. One larva was detected from the breast meat, and it was molecularly identified as Toxocara tanuki. The other from the thigh meat of another chicken was molecularly identified as Toxocara cati. The present study demonstrated for the first time that T. tanuki larvae do infect chickens in the natural environment. The fact that Toxocara spp. larvae were found in muscles of farm chickens suggests that consumption of raw or undercooked chicken meat may present a risk for human toxocariasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human toxocariasis is a worldwide neglected zoonotic parasitic disease and caused mainly by Toxocara canis, and to a lesser event, by T. cati. There are only 16 epidemiological studies and 5 clinical toxocariasis case reports in 11 Southeast Asia countries and Taiwan (SEAT) that were found by searching data from PubMed in the period from January 1992 to August 2019. The overall seroprevalence in SEAT varied from 3.9% to 84.6% chiefly detected by using T. canis larval excretory-secretory antigen (TcES)-based ELISA. Playing with dogs or contacting Toxocara eggs from the contaminated soil or vegetables or eating raw meats/viscera containing encapsulated larvae seem likely the major risk factors leading to human toxocariasis in SEAT. Nevertheless, undertaking comprehensive seroepidemiological studies to establish the baseline data and beware of clinical toxocariasis cases by physicians as well as establishing adequate serodiagnostic methods in detection of Toxocara infection, e.g., TcES-based immunoblotting method in helminth endemic SEA are strongly required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human toxocariasis is a parasitic disease transmitted usually from dogs and/or cats that are infected with Toxocara species, and can be associated with a range of allergic, neurological and/or visual disorders. Recent epidemiological research has estimated that ~1.4 billion people worldwide, particularly in subtropical and tropical regions, are infected with, or exposed to Toxocara species, indicating that human toxocariasis is a neglected tropical disease. Here, we review recent research efforts, consider risk factors, discuss limitations in current seroprevalence estimates, and propose some future research directions towards improved awareness, surveillance, prevention and control of this neglected disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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To assess the possible influence of atopy on the clinical picture of human toxocariasis, a retrospective study was carried out using file records for patients who attended the Outpatient Clinic of Parasitology in Toulouse University Hospitals. A total of 106 file records for patients who had been diagnosed with common/covert toxocariasis were extracted from the database. Forty-nine patients (20 females and 29 males) were considered atopic since they exhibited a long (≥ 1 year) history of various allergic issues along with a titer ≥ 0.7 kIU/L for specific IgE against at least two out of nine mixes of common inhalant allergens. Fifty-seven patients (42 females and 15 males) were designated nonatopic on the basis of a negative result (

Human toxocariasis is caused by the nematode, Toxocara canis and it is a poorly understood phenomenon in Nigeria. Seroepidemiological studies have not been previously carried out among the preschool aged children in Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted in pre-school children in four communities from Osun State, Nigeria between January and July 2016. A total of 308 children Aged 9 months and 5 years were studied comprising 53.2% (164/308) male and 46.8% (144/308) female. Blood samples were collected and screened for the presence of anti- Toxocara IgG antibodies by Western blot analysis based on the excretory-secretory antigens of larva T. canis (TcES), targeting low molecular weight bands of 24 − 35 kDa specific for T. canis . Questionnaires were given to parents/guardians of the studied children to collect information regarding relationship between infection and host factors. The overall seroprevalence of Toxocara infection was 37.3%. The seroprevalence in the studied preschool children ranged from 18.2% in children less than one year old to a max of 57.6% in children aged 3 years and above. The logistic regression analysis of risk factors showed that children’s age (odds ratio (OR) = 6.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.25–29.90, p = 0.02), contact with dogs (OR = 3.17, 95% CI = 1.40–7.20, p = 0.01) and parent’s religion (OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.32–0.91, p = 0.02) were the risk factors associated with Toxocara infection. However, after adjustment by multivariate logistic regression analysis, contact with dogs ( p = 0.02) remained the only statistically significant risk factor. Preschool children were exposed early in life to T. canis infection as 18.18% of children less than one year old were infected. This is the first serological investigation of T. canis infection among preschool children in Nigeria. The results show high levels of exposure to T. canis infection among the studied group and contact with the dog plays the predominant risk factor. It indicates high transmission with the consequent of visceral or ocular larva migrans and neurologic disorder in these children. The results also provide baseline data for effective prevention strategies of toxocariasis in Southwest Nigeria and the study recommends prompt interventional measures, particularly health education on personal hygiene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency of anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies in individuals attended by the Centro de Salud Familiar in the coastal Niebla town, Chile, was related to the host and to environmental factors. IgG anti- Toxocara antibodies were detected with a commercial ELISA kit (SCIMEDX Corporation, USA). Samples with undetermined absorbance values were subjected to an additional ELISA standardized by the Instituto de Salud Pública, Chilean Health Ministry, a commercial ELISA (NOVATEC, Germany), and a commercial Western blot kit (LDBio Diagnostics, France). Hematological exams were performed using an automated blood counter and blood smears. Dog feces were collected from the ground along the main road in Niebla, including rural and urban locations. Ninety (25.4%) of the 355 examined individuals were positive by the ELISA test. The frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies and the infection risk were significantly higher (p < 0.05) among those individuals ≥ 40 years old with respect to the 20-39 years old group, in individuals from rural locations, those who did not have a safe drinking water supply in the house or who presented blood eosinophilia. The proportion of positive samples of dog feces and the mean number of Toxocara canis eggs/g of feces in urban and rural areas were similar (p > 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human toxocariasis which is caused mainly by the larvae of Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati , is a worldwide zoonotic disease that can be a potentially serious human infection. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using T. canis excretory–secretory (TES) antigens harvested from T. canis larvae is currently the serological test for confirming toxocariasis. An alternative to producing large amounts of Toxocara TES and improved diagnosis for toxocariasis is through the development of highly specific recombinant antigens such as the T. canis second stage larva excretory–secretory 30 kDa protein (recTES-30). The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a rapid diagnostic kit (RDT, named as iToxocara kit) in comparison to recTES-30 ELISA in Serendah Orang Asli village in Selangor, Malaysia. A total of 133 subjects were included in the study. The overall prevalence rates by ELISA and RDT were 29.3% and 33.1%, respectively, with more positive cases detected in males than females. However, no association was found between toxocariasis and gender or age. The percentage sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of RDT were 85.7%, 90.1%, 80% and 93.2%, respectively. The prevalence for toxocariasis in this population using both ELISA and RDT was 27.1% (36/133) and the K-concordance test suggested good agreement of the two tests with a Cohen's kappa of 0.722, P < 0.01. In addition, the followed-up Spearman rank correlation showed a moderately high correlation at R = 0.704 and P < 0.01. In conclusion, the RDT kit was faster and easier to use than an ELISA and is useful for the laboratory diagnosis of hospitalized cases of toxocariasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]