1. Prevalence of human cystic echinococcosis in the towns of Ñorquinco and Ramos Mexia in Rio Negro Province, Argentina, and direct risk factors for infection
- Author
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Fabiana Barrera, Edmundo Larrieu, Marcos Arezo, Janete Lamunier, Mariano Sobrino, Alejandro Solari, Daniel Araya, Francesca Tamarozzi, Marcos Seleiman, Adriano Casulli, Sergio Moguillansky, Leonardo Uchiumi, Guillermo Mujica, Juan Carlos Salvitti, Patricia Blanco, and Zaida E Yadon
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Rural Population ,0301 basic medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Multivariate analysis ,Adolescent ,Epidemiology ,030231 tropical medicine ,Argentina ,Echinococcus granulosus (s.l.) ,Ultrasound screening ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Echinococcosis ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Abdomen ,Prevalence ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Child ,Echinococcus granulosus ,Aged ,Ultrasonography ,Aged, 80 and over ,biology ,Research ,Zoonosis ,Middle Aged ,030108 mycology & parasitology ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Confidence interval ,Cystic echinococcosis ,Infectious Diseases ,Risk factors ,Tropical medicine ,Female ,Parasitology ,Rural area ,Demography - Abstract
Background Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a parasitic zoonosis caused by infection with the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus (s.l.). This study investigated the prevalence and potential risk factors associated with human CE in the towns and rural areas of Ñorquinco and Ramos Mexia, Rio Negro province, Argentina. Methods To detect abdominal CE cysts, we screened 892 volunteers by ultrasound and investigated potential risk factors for CE using a standardized questionnaire. Prevalence ratio (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used to measure the association between CE and the factors investigated, applying bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results Abdominal CE was detected in 42/892 screened volunteers (4.7%, 95% CI 3.2–6.1), only two of whom were under 15 years of age. Thirteen (30.9%) CE cases had 25 cysts in active stages (CE1, CE2, CE3a, according to the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis [WHO-IWGE] classification). The most relevant risk factors identified in the bivariate analysis included: living in rural areas (P = 0.003), age > 40 years (P = 0.000), always drinking water from natural sources (P = 0.007), residing in rural areas during the first 5 years of life (P = 0.000) and having lived more than 20 years at the current address (P = 0.013). In the multivariate final model, the statistically significant risk factors were: frequently touching dogs (P = 0.012), residing in rural areas during the first 5 years of life (P = 0.004), smoking (P = 0.000), age > 60 years (P = 0.002) and living in rural areas (P = 0.017). Conclusions Our results point toward infection with CE being acquired since childhood and with constant exposure throughout life, especially in rural areas with a general environmental contamination. Graphical Abstract
- Published
- 2021