title: Update on Baylisascariasis, a Highly Pathogenic Zoonotic Infection.
abstract: Baylisascaris procyonis, the raccoon roundworm, infects a wide range of vertebrate animals, including humans, in which it causes a particularly severe type of larva migrans. It is an important cause of severe neurologic disease (neural larva migrans [NLM]) but also causes ocular disease (OLM; diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis [DUSN]), visceral larva migrans (VLM), and covert/asymptomatic infections. B. procyonis is common and widespread in raccoons, and there is increasing recognition of human disease, making a clinical consideration of baylisascariasis important. This review provides an update for this disease, especially its clinical relevance and diagnosis, and summarizes the clinical cases of human NLM and VLM known to date. Most diagnosed patients have been young children less than 2 years of age, although the number of older patients diagnosed in recent years has been increasing. The recent development of recombinant antigen-based serodiagnostic assays has aided greatly in the early diagnosis of this infection. Patients recovering with fewer severe sequelae have been reported in recent years, reinforcing the current recommendation that early treatment with albendazole and corticosteroids should be initiated at the earliest suspicion of baylisascariasis. Considering the seriousness of this zoonotic infection, greater public and medical awareness is critical for the prevention and early treatment of human cases.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências and Instituto de Pesquisas Biomédicas, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil graeff.teixeira@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2725-0061
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Graeff-Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências and Instituto de Pesquisas Biomédicas, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra Loureiro
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Morassutti
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Kazacos
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015766:Albendazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017191:Ascaridida Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D001199:Ascaridoidea / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D011821:Raccoons / Q000469:parasitology; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000871:Anthelmintics; D015766:Albendazole