Seroprevalence of human toxocariasis [visceral larva migrans]

ABSTRACT

A total of 455 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The enrolled patients were subjected to a questionnaire [including sociodemographic and other risk factors] and thorough clinical examination was done for the patients. Sera were collected from patients and tested for anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies using ELISA. The overall and- Toxocara sero-positive was [7.7%]. It was significantly higher than among the randomly selected 30 healthy controls. There were no significant differences between the seropositive and seronegative patients regarding age, sex, educational level and monthly family income of the patient. However, rural residence, poor house, pet's ownership and frequent contact with soil were found to be significant. Patients who had confirmed bronchial asthma were more than 2 times at higher risk of developing toxocariasis [OR, 2.33; 95% CL 1.09-4.98] than those with other clinical diagnosis [PUO, hepato-megaly or heptosplenomegaly, lympha-denopathy, neurological disorders, gastrointestinal troubles and dermatitis]. Patients with eosinophilia were at 149 times greater risk of being Toxocara seropositive compared to those without eosinophilia [OR, 148.7; 95% CI 53.5-413.3]. Multivariate regression analysis showed eosinophilia and contact with soil were the most important predictors of toxocariasis. OD of anti-Toxocara antibodies [ELISA] was significantly positive with eosinophilia level