Human toxocariasis: frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies in children and adolescents from an outpatient clinic for lymphatic filariasis in Recife, Northeast Brazil
Keywords:
Toxocariasis, Visceral larva migrans, Anti-Toxocara antibodies, Toxocara canis, Eosinophilia, Wuchereria bancroftiAbstract
In a transversal study on a sample of 386 children and adolescents from an outpatient clinic for filariasis in Recife, Northeast Brazil, the frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies and its relation to age, gender, number of peripheral eosinophils, Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae and intestinal helminths was determined. The total anti-Toxocara IgG antibody frequency was 39.4%, by ELISA technique. The difference in frequency between males (40.1%) and females (37.6%) was not statistically significant. The 6 to 10-year-old subset presented the highest frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies (60%), and within this age group there was a statistically significant male bias. There was also a significant association between the number of eosinophils and the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. Intestinal parasite frequency was 52.1%, but no association was found between this data and the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. In the present sample, 42.2% of the patients were Wuchereria bancrofti carriers, however, again this was not associated with the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. In conclusion, anti-Toxocara antibodies were highly prevalent in this sample. The present data show that there is no cross correlation between anti-Toxocara IgG antibody and the presence of intestinal helminths and filariasis.Downloads
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Published
2004-04-01
Issue
Section
Parasitology
How to Cite
Aguiar-Santos, A. M., Andrade, L. D., Medeiros, Z., Chieffi, P. P., Lescano, S. Z., & Perez, E. P. (2004). Human toxocariasis: frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies in children and adolescents from an outpatient clinic for lymphatic filariasis in Recife, Northeast Brazil . Revista Do Instituto De Medicina Tropical De São Paulo, 46(2), 81-85. https://www.revistas.usp.br/rimtsp/article/view/30791