[Taeniasis and detection of antibodies against cysticercus among inhabitants of a rural community in Guerrero State, Mexico].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the frequency of Taenia solium carriers and its relationship with human cysticercosis in a Mexican locality.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1998, in a locality of Guerrero State, Mexico. Four hundred and three fecal samples were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect Taenia sp coproantigen. Ninety two serum samples were also analyzed for antibodies against cisticerci using the immunoelectrotransfer blot assay (IET). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and odds ratios.


RESULTS
Five of the 403 fecal samples were positive (1.2%). The adult cestode was recovered in only two people. Three (3.26%) out of the 92 serum samples that were analyzed for anticysticercus antibodies were positive. Seventeen serum samples corresponded to people living with a person positive to the coproantigen test (first group), the remaining 75 were obtained from people without a history of releasing taenia proglottids (second group). In the first group, 2 positive sera were detected (11.8%), while in the second only I was positive (1.3%) (odds ratio = 9.87, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 295.56, p = 0.08).


CONCLUSIONS
The difficulty to obtain the adult parasite in persons positive to coproantigens, may be due to difficult expulsion, a shorter permanence of the parasite in the host, insufficient dosage of treatment, or to lack of specificity of the diagnostic test. Further studies are needed to evaluate these possibilities; a better knowledge of parasite transmission dynamics will allow the implementation of prevention and control measures and a better assessment of diagnostic tests under field conditions. The English version of this paper is available at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F., México. jjmm@servidor.unam.mx
José Juan
JJ
Martínez-Maya
Aline S
AS
de Aluja
Guillermina
G
Avila-Ramírez
Laura
L
Aguilar-Vega
Agustín
A
Plancarte-Crespo
Carlos Julio
CJ
Jaramillo-Arango
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D041201:Taenia solium / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013622:Taeniasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*
D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth