title: A seroepidemiological survey of toxocariasis among eosinophilia patients in Chungcheongnam-do.
abstract: There have been several reports on the relationship between toxocariasis and eosinophilia, but all have been limited to the areas of Seoul or Gangwon-do. In the present study, we investigated the seroprevalence of toxocariasis among eosinophilia patients in Chungcheongnam-do, the central district of Korea. Among the 101 patients tested, 51 (50.5%) were identified as positive by Toxocara ELISA, and 46 (45.5%) were confidently diagnosed with toxocariasis because of absence of any other cause of eosinophilia. Whereas 22 of 42 seropositive patients (52.3%) had a recent history of consuming raw livers, especially the cow liver, only 1 of 25 seronegative patients (4%) had done so (P<0.01). From these results, we could confirm that toxocariasis is related to eosinophilia, and infer that ingestion of raw cow liver plays a vital role in the transmission of toxocariasis in Chungcheongnam-do.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 330-714, Korea.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Sung Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000947:Antigens, Helminth