Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Science, Sari, Iran; Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran; School of Medicine, Iranshahr University of Medical Sciences, Iranshahr, Iran.
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran.
Res Vet Sci. 2020 Aug;131:104-116. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2020.04.002. Epub 2020 Apr 10.
Dirofilaria immitis is a parasitic filarial nematode responsible for heartworm disease in domestic as well as wild canines and felines and pulmonary or cutaneous infections in humans. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the status of D. immitis in dogs based on available literature. Four English language databases (ISI Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and Science Direct) containing data on D. immitis prevalence in dogs were thoroughly searched resulting in the inclusion of 193 studies. The findings revealed that the pooled and weighted prevalence of D. immitis infection in dog population based on published papers throughout the world was 10.91% (95% CI=10.18-11.65). In addition, subgroup analysis based on meta-regression revealed that a significant difference between the pooled and weighted prevalence of D. immitis in dogs and country (β =0.14, P=0.049). Given the relatively high prevalence of D. immitis infection in dogs and its adverse effects, it is suggested that to perform more research on the prevention and control of dirofilariasis infection in dogs worldwide.
犬恶丝虫是一种寄生性丝虫，可引起犬科和猫科动物的心脏丝虫病，以及人类的肺部或皮肤感染。本系统评价和荟萃分析旨在根据现有文献评估犬恶丝虫的状况。我们彻底搜索了四个英语数据库（ISI Web of Science、Scopus、PubMed 和 Science Direct），以获取有关犬恶丝虫流行率的数据，共纳入了 193 项研究。结果表明，基于世界各地已发表论文，犬恶丝虫感染的总患病率和加权患病率为 10.91%（95%CI=10.18-11.65）。此外，基于荟萃回归的亚组分析显示，犬恶丝虫的总患病率和加权患病率与国家之间存在显著差异（β=0.14，P=0.049）。鉴于犬恶丝虫感染的相对较高患病率及其不良影响，建议在全球范围内开展更多关于犬恶丝虫感染预防和控制的研究。
