Seroprevalence of cysticercosis in children and young adults living in a helminth endemic community in leyte, the Philippines

Abstract

Cysticercosis is a significant public health problem in countries where pigs are raised for consumption and remains an important cause of neurological disease worldwide. The Philippines is considered an endemic area for cysticercosis because cases in both humans and pigs have been reported; however, epidemiologic information stays limited. We conducted a pilot survey of the seroprevalence of human cysticercosis in a village in Leyte, the Philippines, by measuring antibody specific for Taenia solium cyst-fluid antigen. There were 497 subjects aged 7-30 years in our study and most subjects were infected with one or more helminths. The overall cysticercosis seroprevalence in this population was 24.6% (95% CI: 20.82% ~ 28.58%) with no significant difference based on age, sex, or other helminth coinfection status. Although the sample may not be representative of the whole community, the findings suggest that cysticercosis is a significant, but underrecognized public health concern in the Philippines.

Figure 1

The distribution of Taenia solium cyst-fluid antigen-specific antibody concentration (I-STOD unit) in the study population. Y-axis: number of individuals; X-axis: antibody concentration by arbitrary I-STOD unit; arrow points to the positive cutoff value for seropositivity.

Figure 2

Seroprevalence of cysticercosis in different sex-age groups. The numbers of subjects in different groups are as follows. Male: age 7–10 (n = 77), age 11–15 (n = 97), age 16–20 (n = 63), age 21–30 (n = 73); female: age 7–10 (n = 62), age 11–15 (n = 80), age 16–20 (n = 28), age 21–30 (n = 17). No statistical difference was found for seroprevalence of all groups (P = .931).