title: Identifying risk factors for symptoms of severe trichinellosis--a case study of 143 infected persons in Brasov, Romania 2001-2008.
abstract: The presence of the parasite Trichinella spiralis in humans does not always manifest itself with obvious clinical symptoms; the clinical manifestations of trichinellosis are polymorphic and can cause diagnostic difficulties. Our aim was to identify risk factors that can be linked to the severity of the disease. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 143 cases of trichinellosis admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Braşov, Romania during 2001-2008. We found that children 10 and younger were less prone to exhibit medium or severe symptoms. Patients with leukocytosis had a 1.75 times higher risk of developing medium to severe symptoms relative to those with normal white blood cell counts. Patients with high eosinophil counts had a 2.05 times higher risk of exhibiting average or serious symptoms relative to those with low or normal eosinophil counts. Repeated consumption of contaminated meat increased the chances of developing discernible forms of the disease by 5.25 fold when compared to those who only occasionally ate meat contaminated with Trichinella. Regular consumption of raw or undercooked meat increased the chances of developing medium or severe forms of this disease by 1.67 times when compared to those who consume meat that had been thoroughly cooked.
authors: Transilvania University of Brasov, Faculty of Medicine, 56 Nicolae Bălcescu Street, Brasov, Romania.
authors: Alexandru
authors: A
authors: Bălescu
authors: Codruta
authors: C
authors: Nemet
authors: Carmen
authors: C
authors: Zamfir
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Ispas
authors: Mihaela
authors: M
authors: Idomir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D003296:Cooking; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004802:Eosinophilia; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007964:Leukocytosis; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008460:Meat / Q000469:parasitology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013552:Swine; D014234:Trichinella / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology