Oviedo-Vera, AY; Chis Ster, I; Chico, ME; Silva, MB; Salazar-Garcés, LF; Alcantara-Neves, NM; Cooper, PJ
(2021)
A prospective seroepidemiological study of toxocariasis during early childhood in coastal Ecuador: potential for congenital transmission and risk factors for infection.
Parasit Vectors, 14 (1).
p. 95.
ISSN 1756-3305
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04575-4
SGUL Authors: Cooper, Philip John
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although Toxocara spp. infection has a worldwide distribution, to our knowledge, no data from birth cohorts have been reported in published studies on the potential for congenital transmission and determinants of infection in early childhood. METHODS: We followed 290 mother-infant pairs from birth to 5 years of age through periodic collection of data and samples at birth, 7 and 13 months and 2, 3 and 5 years of age. Data on potential risk factors and confounders were collected by maternal questionnaire. Blood for plasma was collected from the mother at time of birth and periodically from the child for detection of anti-Toxocara spp. immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using a Toxocara canis larval excretory-secretory antigen-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Stool samples were collected from the mother around the time of birth and periodically from the child for microscopic detection of soil-transmitted helminths (STH). Associations between potential risk factors and Toxocara spp. seroprevalence and seroconversion were estimated using multivariable logistic regression and generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Toxocara spp. seroprevalence was 80.7% in mothers and in children was 0%, 9.3%, 48.4%, 64.9%, and 80.9% at 7 months, 13 months, 2, 3 and 5 years, respectively. Risk factors significantly associated with increases in seroprevalence over the first 5 years of life in multivariable analyses were age [Odds ratio (OR) 2.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39-2.27, P < 0001], male sex (female vs. male: OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.48-0.89, P = 0.006), maternal ethnicity (non-Afro vs. Afro-Ecuadorian: OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.47-0.91, P = 0.011), lower maternal educational and socioeconomic level, and childhood STH (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.51-3.47, P < 0.001). Seroconversion rates for infection were greatest at 2 years of age (3.8%/month). Factors associated significantly with seroconversion at 2, 3 or 5 years were childhood STH infection, male sex, and more frequent domestic cat exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Our data, from an area of high Toxocara spp. endemicity, indicate no congenital transmission but high rates of seroconversion after 13 months of age reaching maternal levels of seroprevalence by 5 years of age. Factors associated with seroprevalence and seroconversion included STH infections, domestic cats, maternal ethnicity, male sex, STH infections, and markers of greater poverty.
Item Type: |
Article
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Additional Information: |
© The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
Keywords: |
Birth cohort, Childhood, Congenital transmission, Ecuador, Risk factors, Seroconversion, Seroprevalence, Toxocara spp., Mycology & Parasitology, Tropical Medicine, 1108 Medical Microbiology, 1117 Public Health and Health Services |
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: |
Academic Structure > Infection and Immunity Research Institute (INII) |
Journal or Publication Title: |
Parasit Vectors |
ISSN: |
1756-3305 |
Language: |
eng |
Dates: |
Date | Event |
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5 February 2021 | Published | 29 December 2020 | Accepted |
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Publisher License: |
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 |
Projects: |
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PubMed ID: |
33546758 |
![](http://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/2745237/img/27842) |
Go to PubMed abstract |
URI: |
https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/112965 |
Publisher's version: |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04575-4 |
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