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. 2019 May 1;11(1):e2019031.
doi: 10.4084/MJHID.2019.031. eCollection 2019.

Seroprevalence of Toxocara Canis in the city of Catania, Italy

Alessandra Nicoletti  1 , Calogero Edoardo Cicero  1 , Antonia Mantella  2 , Loretta Giuliano  1 , Cristina Rascunà  1 , Vincenza Paradisi  3 , Alessandro Bartoloni  2 , Mario Zappia  1 , Vito Sofia  1
Affiliations

Seroprevalence of Toxocara Canis in the city of Catania, Italy

Alessandra Nicoletti et al. Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Toxocariasis is one of the most common helminthiases worldwide. However, there is a lack of data regarding Southern Italy. We have evaluated the seroprevalence and associated environmental factors of toxocariasis in a sample of adults living in the city of Catania. Presence of anti-Toxocara canis IgG antibodies was searched using an ELISA test using excretory/secretory antigens. Environmental risk factors have been evaluated with a face-to-face questionnaire. Two hundred eighty-seven subjects (193 [67.3%] women, mean age 48.1±15.6 years) were enrolled, and presence of anti T. canis antibodies was found in 23 participants, of whom 18 (78.3%) were women with a mean age of 51.1±14.0 years, giving a seroprevalence of 8.0% (95%CI 5.4-11.7). At multivariate analysis, a positive association for subjects with more than three siblings (adjOR 3.17; 95%CI 1.09-9.25) was recorded. Our study confirms that exposition to T. canis is frequent also in urban areas of western countries.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Helminths; Toxocara canis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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