title: Seroepidemiology of Toxocariasis in Children (5-15 yr Old) Referred to the Pediatric Clinic of Imam Hossein Hospital, Isfahan, Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human toxocariasis, a helminthozoonosis, is due to the migration of Toxocara species larvae into human organisms. Humans, especially children become infected by ingesting of embryonated eggs from soil, dirty hands, and raw vegetables. Seroprevalence of this infection is high in developed countries, especially in rural areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroepidemiology of Toxocariasis in children referred to the pediatric clinic of Imam Hossein hospital, Isfahan, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross sectional study the sera of children aged 5 to 15 years old, admitted to Imam Hossein Pediatric Hospital were collected during 2013-14. Then the sera were examined for anti Toxocara canis antibodies using commercial ELISA kit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 427 children, 196 (45.9%) were female and 231(54.1%) were male. 107(25.1%) were from rural and 320 (74.9%) were from urban area. Of them 129 (30.2%) were contacted with dog. One child (0.2%) had hypereosinophilia, 33 (7.7%) eosinophlia, and 6 (1.39%) were positive for T. canis IgG (two male and four female). Four of infected children with T. canis were from urban (1.25%) and two from rural areas (1.9%). There was no significant correlation between education of parents, gender, age, place of living and contact with dog with ELISA results test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Toxocariasis is prevalent in the children of Isfahan region. Results suggest a low Toxocara exposure in children in this area. Therefore, more risk factors associated with Toxocara exposure should be identified in the further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosseini-Safa
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Mohammad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mousavi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bahadoran Bagh Badorani
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Immunology Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghatreh Samani
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Shayan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mostafaei
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yousofi Darani
keywords: Children; Iran; Seroepidemiology; Toxocariasis; Visceral larva migrans
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