Martín Ubaldo O, Machuca Pía B, Demonte Miguel A, Contini Liliana
Centro de Investigaciones sobre Endemias Nacionales, Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe.
Medicina (B Aires). 2008;68(5):353-7.
Human toxocariasis is a parasitic disease found worldwide. The most important etiological agent is Toxocara canis, a dog parasite. Humans are infected by the ingestion of their eggs; the eggs hatch in the small intestine and the larvae migrate through the capillaries, taking up residence in different tissues. Clinical manifestations are associated with mechanical and/or reaction damage caused by these parasites larvae. Clinical diagnosis is difficult. The method applied in this work is the demonstration of antibodies against the helminth in the blood of children, target host population of this parasitic disease. An ELISA test was performed using T. canis larval excretory-secretory products as antigen. A total of 100 children presumptively diagnosed of toxocariasis that had been derived from different services of the Regional Children's Hospital for complementary studies, were included in the analysis. The test detected two different populations: infected (59) and non-infected (41). The statistical analysis showed a non significant association between infection and sex (p = 0.279). Infected subjects tended to be older than the non infected (p = 0.009). Eosinophilia was detected in 100% of seropositive children and in 85.2% of the seronegative. There was no significant association between infection and leucocytosis (p = 0.950). The association of these two parameters was significantly higher among infected patients (R = 0.918). Respiratory symptoms and signs were more frequently detected in the positive population (p = 0.05). Dogs tenancy was as frequent among infected as in the non infected homes (p = 0.53). According to these results, prevention, early diagnosis and opportune treatment for toxocariasis should be considered as priority health activities in this region.
人体弓首蛔虫病是一种在全球范围内发现的寄生虫病。最重要的病原体是犬弓首蛔虫，一种寄生于狗的寄生虫。人类通过摄入其虫卵而感染；虫卵在小肠内孵化，幼虫通过毛细血管迁移，在不同组织中定居。临床表现与这些寄生虫幼虫引起的机械性和/或反应性损伤有关。临床诊断困难。本研究采用的方法是在这种寄生虫病的目标宿主人群——儿童血液中检测针对该蠕虫的抗体。使用犬弓首蛔虫幼虫排泄分泌产物作为抗原进行酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）试验。共有100名疑似诊断为弓首蛔虫病的儿童被纳入分析，这些儿童来自地区儿童医院不同科室进行补充检查。该检测发现了两个不同群体：感染组（59名）和未感染组（41名）。统计分析表明感染与性别之间无显著关联（p = 0.279）。感染的受试者往往比未感染的受试者年龄大（p = 0.009）。在100%的血清阳性儿童和85.2%的血清阴性儿童中检测到嗜酸性粒细胞增多。感染与白细胞增多之间无显著关联（p = 0.950）。在感染患者中，这两个参数的关联显著更高（R = 0.918）。在阳性人群中更频繁地检测到呼吸道症状和体征（p = 0.05）。感染家庭和未感染家庭养狗的情况一样常见（p = 0.53）。根据这些结果，应将弓首蛔虫病的预防、早期诊断和及时治疗视为该地区的优先卫生活动。
