Seroprevalence of Human Hydatidosis Using ELISA Method in Qom Province, Central Iran

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis (CE) in Qom Province, central Iran using ELISA test. METHODS Overall, 1564 serum samples (800 males and 764 females) were collected from selected subjects by randomized cluster sampling in 2011-2012. Sera were analyzed by ELISA test using AgB. Before sampling, a questionnaire was filled out for each case. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression for risk factors analysis. RESULTS Seropositivity was 1.6% (25 cases). Males (2.2%) showed significantly more positivity than females (0.9%) (P= 0.03). There was no significant association between CE seropositivity and age group, occupation, and region. Age group of 30-60 years encompassed the highest rate of positivity. The seropositivity of CE was 2.1% and 1.2% for urban and rural cases respectively. Binary logistic regression showed that males were 2.5 times at higher risk for infection than females. CONCLUSION Although seroprevalence of CE is relatively low in Qom Province, yet due to the importance of the disease, all preventive measures should be taken into consideration.