Human toxocariasis: frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies in children and adolescents from an outpatient clinic for lymphatic filariasis in Recife, Northeast Brazil

• Main Authors: Ana Maria Aguiar-Santos, Luiz D. Andrade, Zulma Medeiros, Pedro Paulo Chieffi, Suzana Z. Lescano, Emília P. Perez
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2004
• Subjects: Toxocariasis; Visceral larva migrans; Anti-Toxocara antibodies; Toxocara canis; Eosinophilia; Wuchereria bancrofti; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/1b4fa5648c0b48db8534b491c3c6b52e

In a transversal study on a sample of 386 children and adolescents from an outpatient clinic for filariasis in Recife, Northeast Brazil, the frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies and its relation to age, gender, number of peripheral eosinophils, Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae and intestinal helminths was determined. The total anti-Toxocara IgG antibody frequency was 39.4%, by ELISA technique. The difference in frequency between males (40.1%) and females (37.6%) was not statistically significant. The 6 to 10-year-old subset presented the highest frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies (60%), and within this age group there was a statistically significant male bias. There was also a significant association between the number of eosinophils and the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. Intestinal parasite frequency was 52.1%, but no association was found between this data and the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. In the present sample, 42.2% of the patients were Wuchereria bancrofti carriers, however, again this was not associated with the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. In conclusion, anti-Toxocara antibodies were highly prevalent in this sample. The present data show that there is no cross correlation between anti-Toxocara IgG antibody and the presence of intestinal helminths and filariasis.