title: Human toxocariasis: frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies in children and adolescents from an outpatient clinic for lymphatic filariasis in Recife, Northeast Brazil.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, FIOCRUZ, Campus da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 50670-420, Brasil. amas@cpqam.fiocruz.br
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Aguiar-Santos
authors.forename: Luiz D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Zulma
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Medeiros
authors.forename: Pedro Paulo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Chieffi
authors.forename: Suzana Z
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Lescano
authors.forename: Emília P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Perez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004605:Elephantiasis, Filarial / Q000150:complications; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004804:Eosinophils; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D014119:Toxocara / Q000276:immunology*; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014958:Wuchereria bancrofti / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D007074:Immunoglobulin G