Risk factors and prevalence of toxocariasis in pregnant women and diabetic patients compared to healthy adults in Ilam province, western Iran
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Date
2018-10-23
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Abstract
Toxocara is one of the common intestinal nematodes in dogs and cats and is the agent of tissue migratory larvae
in humans. Customarily, the prevalence of human toxocariasis hovers around 15.8 % in Iran. Furthermore, other
research outcomes demonstrated a tendency for an outbreak of toxocariasis in Iran. Therefore, we carried out a
cross-sectional study and assessed the seroprevalence of toxocariasis humans in Ilam Province, western of Iran. A
total of 539 serum samples were collected between September 2017 and March 2018 from patients referred to the
Health Centers of Ilam province, Iran. Serum samples were investigated for the presence of Toxocara using IgG
antibodies, ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) kit. Risk factors such as contact with cats and dogs,
living in rural areas were investigated among the study population. Out of 539 total samples collected, 97 cases
(17.99 %) were positive for anti-toxocara IgG antibodies. These antibodies were recovered from serum samples
of otherwise healthy adults (15.54 %, 49/296), pregnant women (21.16 %, 40/189) and diabetic patients (14.81 %,
8/54). This study showed significant relationship between toxocariasis and contact with animal pets in all studied
groups (P value ≤ 0.05) and a significant relationship between toxocariasis and living in rural areas among pregnant
women (P value ≤ 0.05).
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Keywords
Toxocariasis, Pregnancy, Diabetic patients, Ilam, Iran