Incidence of human Taenia solium larval Infections in an Ecuadorian endemic area: implications for disease burden assessment and control.
BACKGROUND
Human cysticercosis is a zoonotic disease causing severe health disorders and even death. While prevalence data become available worldwide, incidence rate and cumulative incidence figures are lacking, which limits the understanding of the Taenia solium epidemiology.


RESULTS
A seroepidemiological cohort study was conducted in a south-Ecuadorian community to estimate the incidence rate of infection with and the incidence rate of exposure to T. solium based on antigen and antibody detections, respectively. The incidence rate of infection was 333.6 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: [8.4-1,858] per 100,000 person-years) contrasting with a higher incidence rate of exposure 13,370 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: [8,730-19,591] per 100,000 person-years). The proportion of infected individuals remained low and stable during the whole study year while more than 25% of the population showed at least one antibody seroconversion/seroreversion during the same time period.


CONCLUSIONS
Understanding the transmission of T. solium is essential to develop ad hoc cost-effective prevention and control programs. The estimates generated here may now be incorporated in epidemiological models to simulate the temporal transmission of the parasite and the effects of control interventions on its life cycle. These estimates are also of high importance to assess the disease burden since incidence data are needed to make regional and global projections of morbidity and mortality related to cysticercosis.
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium; Universidad Central del Ecuador, Centro Internacional de Zoonosis (CIZ), Ciudadela Universitaria, Quito, Ecuador; Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Marco
M
Coral-Almeida
Universidad Central del Ecuador, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Ciudadela Universitaria, Quito, Ecuador; Universidad Central del Ecuador, Núcleo de Investigadores, Ciudadela Universitaria, Quito, Ecuador.
Richar
R
Rodríguez-Hidalgo
Universidad Central del Ecuador, Centro Internacional de Zoonosis (CIZ), Ciudadela Universitaria, Quito, Ecuador.
Maritza
M
Celi-Erazo
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú; Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurológicas, Lima, Perú
Héctor Hugo
HH
García
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurológicas, Lima, Perú
Silvia
S
Rodríguez
Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Merelbeke, Belgium; Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Health and Society, Brussels, Belgium.
Brecht
B
Devleesschauwer
Universidad Central del Ecuador, Centro Internacional de Zoonosis (CIZ), Ciudadela Universitaria, Quito, Ecuador; Universidad Central del Ecuador, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Ciudadela Universitaria, Quito, Ecuador.
Washington
W
Benítez-Ortiz
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium; Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Pierre
P
Dorny
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium.
Nicolas
N
Praet
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003551:Cysticercosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004484:Ecuador / Q000453:epidemiology; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D041201:Taenia solium / Q000302:isolation & purification*
D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth