Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren.
BACKGROUND:Toxocariasis is a worldwide helminthic zoonosis caused by infection with the larvae of the ascarid worms that comprise the Toxocara spp. Children are particularly prone to infection because they are exposed to the eggs in sandboxes and playgrounds contaminated with dog and cat feces. Cert...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:af7c9e22d526460da6e832e778b95d63 2023-05-15T15:16:53+02:00 Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. Alex J F Cassenote Alba R de Abreu Lima José M Pinto Neto Guita Rubinsky-Elefant 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002830 https://doaj.org/article/af7c9e22d526460da6e832e778b95d63 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4038482?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002830 https://doaj.org/article/af7c9e22d526460da6e832e778b95d63 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 8, Iss 5, p e2830 (2014) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002830 2022-12-31T13:34:03Z BACKGROUND:Toxocariasis is a worldwide helminthic zoonosis caused by infection with the larvae of the ascarid worms that comprise the Toxocara spp. Children are particularly prone to infection because they are exposed to the eggs in sandboxes and playgrounds contaminated with dog and cat feces. Certain behaviors, such as a geophagy habit, poor personal hygiene, a lack of parental supervision, close contact with young dogs, and ingestion of raw meat, as well as gender, age, and socioeconomic status, affect the prevalence of the disease. However, previous studies of the risk factors for toxocariasis have generally produced inconsistent results. An epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of IgG anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies and associated factors in schoolchildren from a region in the southeast of Brazil. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A total of 252 schoolchildren aged 1 to 12 years (120 males and 132 females) were assessed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on Toxocara canis larval excretory-secretory antigens was used to determine outcomes. A questionnaire was used to collect information on children, family, and home characteristics. Clinical and laboratory data completed the dataset investigated in this study. Seroprevalence was 15.5% (95%CI 11.5-19.8). Geophagy (aPR 2.38 [95%CI 1.36-4.18], p-value 0.029) and the habit of hand washing before meals (aPR 0.04 [95%CI 0.01-0.11], p-value ≤ 0.001) were factors associated with increased and decreased seroprevalence, respectively. The income factor and its related variables lost statistical significance after adjustment with a multiple Poisson regression model. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The current study confirms that toxocariasis is a public health problem in the evaluated area; modifiable factors such as soil contact and personal hygiene appear to have a greater influence on the acquisition of infection than sociodemographic attributes, thus representing direct targets for disease prevention and control. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 8 5 e2830 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Alex J F Cassenote Alba R de Abreu Lima José M Pinto Neto Guita Rubinsky-Elefant Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Toxocariasis is a worldwide helminthic zoonosis caused by infection with the larvae of the ascarid worms that comprise the Toxocara spp. Children are particularly prone to infection because they are exposed to the eggs in sandboxes and playgrounds contaminated with dog and cat feces. Certain behaviors, such as a geophagy habit, poor personal hygiene, a lack of parental supervision, close contact with young dogs, and ingestion of raw meat, as well as gender, age, and socioeconomic status, affect the prevalence of the disease. However, previous studies of the risk factors for toxocariasis have generally produced inconsistent results. An epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of IgG anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies and associated factors in schoolchildren from a region in the southeast of Brazil. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A total of 252 schoolchildren aged 1 to 12 years (120 males and 132 females) were assessed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on Toxocara canis larval excretory-secretory antigens was used to determine outcomes. A questionnaire was used to collect information on children, family, and home characteristics. Clinical and laboratory data completed the dataset investigated in this study. Seroprevalence was 15.5% (95%CI 11.5-19.8). Geophagy (aPR 2.38 [95%CI 1.36-4.18], p-value 0.029) and the habit of hand washing before meals (aPR 0.04 [95%CI 0.01-0.11], p-value ≤ 0.001) were factors associated with increased and decreased seroprevalence, respectively. The income factor and its related variables lost statistical significance after adjustment with a multiple Poisson regression model. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The current study confirms that toxocariasis is a public health problem in the evaluated area; modifiable factors such as soil contact and personal hygiene appear to have a greater influence on the acquisition of infection than sociodemographic attributes, thus representing direct targets for disease prevention and control. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alex J F Cassenote Alba R de Abreu Lima José M Pinto Neto Guita Rubinsky-Elefant |
author_facet |
Alex J F Cassenote Alba R de Abreu Lima José M Pinto Neto Guita Rubinsky-Elefant |
author_sort |
Alex J F Cassenote |
title |
Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. |
title_short |
Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. |
title_full |
Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. |
title_fullStr |
Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for Toxocara spp. in Brazilian schoolchildren. |
title_sort |
seroprevalence and modifiable risk factors for toxocara spp. in brazilian schoolchildren. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002830 https://doaj.org/article/af7c9e22d526460da6e832e778b95d63 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 8, Iss 5, p e2830 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4038482?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002830 https://doaj.org/article/af7c9e22d526460da6e832e778b95d63 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002830 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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5 |
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e2830 |
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