Frequency of Toxocara infection in children attended by the health public service of Maringá, south Brazil.
Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo
; 49(6): 343-8, 2007.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18157398
The lack of specific laboratorial diagnosis methods and precise symptoms makes the toxocariasis a neglected disease in Public Health Services. This study aims to determine the frequency of Toxocara spp. infection in children attended by the Health Public Service of Hospital Municipal de Maringá, South Brazil. To evaluate the association of epidemiological and clinical data, an observational and cross-section study was carried out. From 14,690 attended children/year aged from seven month to 12 years old, 450 serum samples were randomly collected from September/2004 to September/2005. A questionnaire was used to evaluate epidemiological, clinical and hematological data. An ELISA using Toxocara canis larval excretory-secretory products as antigen detected 130 (28.8%) positive sera, mainly between children from seven month to five years old (p = 0.0016). Significant correlation was observed between positive serology for Toxocara, and frequent playing in sandbox at school or daycare center (p = 0.011) and the presence of a cat at home (p = 0.056). From the families, 50% were dog owners which exposed soil backyards. Eosinophilia (p = 0.776), and signs and symptoms analyzed (fever p = 0.992, pneumonia p = 0.289, cold-like symptoms p = 0.277, cough p = 0.783, gastrointestinal problems p = 0.877, migraine p = 0.979, abdominal pain p = 0.965, joint pain p = 0.686 and skin rash p = 0.105) could not be related to the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. Therefore, two asthmatics children showed titles of 1:10,240 and accentuated eosinophilia (p = 0.0001). The authors emphasize the needs of prevention activities.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Anticorpos Anti-Helmínticos
/
Toxocaríase
/
Toxocara canis
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil
País de publicação:
Brasil