Risk factors and prevalence of toxocariasis in pregnant women and diabetic patients compared to healthy adults in Ilam province, western Iran

Authors

  • Vahid Raissi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Zahra Sohrabi Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
  • Muhammad Getso Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Omid Raiesi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Saeideh Hashemi Hafshejani Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Hajar Shabandoust Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
  • Soudabeh Etemadi Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2018-1630

Keywords:

toxocariasis, pregnancy, diabetic patients, Ilam, Iran

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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Published

2018-10-23

How to Cite

Raissi, V., Sohrabi, Z., Getso, M., Raiesi, O., Hashemi Hafshejani, S., Shabandoust, H., & Etemadi, S. (2018). Risk factors and prevalence of toxocariasis in pregnant women and diabetic patients compared to healthy adults in Ilam province, western Iran. EXCLI Journal, 17, 983–988. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2018-1630

Issue

Vol. 17 (2018)

Section

Original articles

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