title: Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Toxocara canis Infection in Serbia During 2015.
abstract: We report data on the Toxocara seroprevalence evidenced in 2015 from samples of 40 children and 298 adults of the population living in different areas of Serbia, and on possible association of certain variables with infection. Detection of specific antibodies was performed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; all ambiguous results and part of the positive and negative sera were further analyzed by confirmatory Western blot test. An overall 23.5% seroprevalence was noticed, which was confirmed in 13.0% of the examined population with no significant difference regarding the age (children = 10.0%; adults = 13.4%) or by country area (East = 18.2%; North = 15.5%, Southeastern = 9.5%; p = 0.005). In contrast, the group of adult women proved more reactive than men (p = 0.001), and subjects both who spend spare time in square/parks (p = 0.041) and with positive onychophagy (p = 0.001) habit turned out more exposed to the infection. Possible reasons of these differences were analyzed, and the medical, veterinary, and economic impact of this soil-transmitted zoonosis were discussed.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome , Rome, Italy .
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabrielli
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš , Niš, Serbia .|3 Center of Microbiology and Parasitology, Public Health Institute Niš , Niš, Serbia .
authors.forename: Suzana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tasić-Otašević
authors.affiliation: 3 Center of Microbiology and Parasitology, Public Health Institute Niš , Niš, Serbia .|4 Department of Medical Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš , Niš, Serbia .
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ignjatović
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome , Rome, Italy .
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fraulo
authors.affiliation: 5 Clinic of Ophthalmology, Clinical Center of Niš , Nis, Serbia .
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trenkić-Božinović
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš , Niš, Serbia .
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Momčilović
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome , Rome, Italy .
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cancrini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058069:Neglected Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D012307:Risk Factors; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology; D017166:Toxocara canis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D012987:Soil
keywords: risk factors; serology; toxocariasis