Frequency of Toxocariasis among Patients Clinically Suspected to Have Visceral Toxocariasis: A Retrospective Descriptive Study in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction Human toxocariasis is caused by several species of the nematode Toxocara. Two common clinical syndromes are ocular and visceral larva migrans. Objectives To determine the Toxocara antibody positivity in clinically suspected VLM patients and to describe demographic factors and clinical manifestations of seropositive patients. Methods 522 clinically suspected patients were studied between 1993 and 2014. Relevant data was gathered from referral letters. Serum samples were subjected to Toxocara antigen ELISA. Results Overall, seropositivity was 50.2% (262), of which 109 (40.8%) were positive at high level of Toxocara antibody carriage and 153 (58.4%) were positive at low levels. The seropositives ranged from 3 months to 70 years (mean = 7.8). Younger age group had higher levels of seropositivity and it was statistically significant. Majority of children under 5 years were seropositive (47.7%, n = 125). Seropositivity was common in males (55.3%, n = 145). Clinical manifestations of seropositives include lymphadenopathy (24.1%) skin rash (22.5%), dyspnoea (21.7%), fever (21%), hepatosplenomegaly (9.2%), and abdominal pain (3.8%). 197 (75.2%) seropositive cases had eosinophilia. These symptoms were not statistically significant. Conclusions This study confirms toxocariasis as an important cause of childhood ill health identifying common clinical symptoms recommending preventive measures to limit transmission.

Electrochemical detection of Toxocara canis excretory-secretory antigens in children from rural communities in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador: association between active infection and high eosinophilia

“…For HT, Gillespie et al [26] reported eosinophilia > 0.4 × 10 9 /l in 28 patients with VLM; of these, 19 scored positive in TES antigen detection using a sandwich ELISA with the monoclonal Ab Tcn-2. In addition, the association between seropositivity (by TES-Ab ELISA) and eosinophilia has been extensively documented [1,10,13,14,[29][30][31][32][33]. These data are in line with our findings.…”

High Seroprevalence of Toxocara Infection among Mentally Retarded Patients in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

“…After hatching eggs in the small intestine of the human, the infective larvae (L3) migrate to different tissues (especially liver, lungs, brain, and eyes) by blood circulation and cause two main syndromes: visceral and ocular, and less commonly neurological larva migrans syndrome. Human toxocariasis in most cases is asymptomatic, which is called covert toxocariasis [3]. Seroprevalence studies show a relatively high prevalence of human toxocariasis in different parts of the world [4][5][6].…”

Clinical and Laboratory Findings among Patients with Toxocaria-sis in Medic Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2017-2019

“…The absence of a relationship between the level of anti- Toxocara antibodies and eosinophilia or IgE concentration in the current study was consistent with some previous findings. Studies in Iran, Sri Lanka and Brazil did not document a statistically significant correlation between eosinophilia and Toxocara seropositivity ( 3 , 41 , 42 ). A little correlation between lgG and lgE in the sera of patients with symptomatic toxocariasis was reported ( 43 ).…”

“…Sampling tissue biopsies or fluid samples can be extremely difficult, so a diagnosis of human toxocariasis has mostly relied on the use of immunological techniques. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on Toxocara excretory-secretory (TES) antigens from infective-stage larvae have been widely used for serodiagnosis of human toxocariasis ( 2 , 3 ). However, immunodiagnostic tests are not capable of distinguishing between current and past infection so some other tests have been used to support the diagnosis ( 4 ).…”