Cystic echinococcosis in Arad County, Romania.
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a major parasitosis in Romania, a country where in the past at least one person from 45.5% of its localities underwent surgery for this disease. This survey aimed to provide new epidemiological and clinical data regarding human cases of CE in a western Romanian county. We have retrospectively investigated the medical records of the patients with CE hospitalized during the period of 2004-2010 in the surgical sections of Arad County. A total of 79 patients aged 5-88 years (mean age: 35.9±20.1 years) were diagnosed with CE during the study period. The average yearly incidence was 2.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and the majority of the patients (29.1%) were aged 0-19 years. Most of the adult cases (≥18 years) were people with limited formal education (laborers) (45.6%). The analysis for trend showed an overall decrease in the affected persons over the study period (R(2)=0.66, p=0.026). Hepatic localizations of the hydatid cysts predominated within the study group (73.4%). Only 21.5% of the diseased presented complications and the mean length of hospital stay was 16.2±10.9 days. Eosinophilia of at least 10% of the leukocyte value occurred in 14% of cases and leukocytosis was noticed in 24.1% of patients. Although the rates of CE cases have decreased in Arad County (Romania), this parasitic disease continues to be a concern for public health services and requires the implementation of more stringent prophylactic measures.
Department of Microbiology, Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.
Crenguta L
CL
Calma
Adriana M
AM
Neghina
Roxana
R
Moldovan
Victor
V
Dumitrascu
Iosif
I
Marincu
Raul
R
Neghina
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004444:Echinococcosis, Hepatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D004446:Echinococcus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult