Infection with Toxocara may affect the central nervous system. A high seroprevalence of Toxocara infection has been reported in psychiatric patients. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous report about an association of Toxocara infection with suicide attempts. Therefore, we sought to determine whether Toxocara exposure is associated with suicide attempts in psychiatric patients. We...

BACKGROUND There is poor knowledge about the epidemiology of toxocariasis in psychiatric patients. AIMS Determine the seroepidemiology of Toxocara infection in psychiatric patients. METHODS Through a case-control seroprevalence study, 128 psychiatric inpatients and 276 control subjects were compared for the presence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies in Durango, Mexico. Socio-demographic, clin...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the gastrointestinal parasites present in feral cats on Christmas Island, with particular interest in the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. PROCEDURE Faecal and serum samples were collected from 28 and 25 cats respectively that were trapped as part of an ongoing eradication program being run on Christmas Island by the Department of Environment and Conservation. Fa...

The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of occurrence and variety of intestinal parasites among free-living wild animals. Fecal samples from wild mammals and birds at rehabilitation centers in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo were analyzed by sedimentation and flotation-centrifugation methods. Parasite eggs, oocysts, cysts and/or trophozoites were found in 71%...

Besides presenting zoonotic potential, helminths of cats are responsible for gastrointestinal, hepatic, and pulmonary diseases. In order to identify the helminthic fauna, prevalence, mean intensity of parasitism (MIP), and mean abundance population (MAP), 146 cats from the metropolitan area of Cuiabá, Midwestern Brazil, were necropsied. In 98 these animals, 12 species of helminths were identifi...

Trichinellosis is a helminthic infection where different species of Trichinella nematodes are the causative agents. Several molecular assays have been designed to aid diagnostics of trichinellosis. These assays are mostly complex and expensive. The genomes of Trichinella species contain certain parasite-specific genes, which can be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. We selecte...

Ocular toxocariasis named also ocular larva migrans is caused by larvae of the roundworm Toxocara spp. The purpose of this study was to find out the seroprevalence of Toxocara antibodies in patients suspected of ocular toxocariasis. Between January 2001 and December 2003, sera from 239 ocular patients, aged 3 to 80 years, were examined by ELISA and confirmed by Western blot test. Out of the 239...

Contact with raw meat could represent a risk for Toxocara infection. We assessed the association of Toxocara infection with an occupation of meat worker though a case-control seroprevalence study of 124 meat workers and 248 subjects without this occupation. Sera of participants was analyzed for the presence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies. One (0.8%) of the 124 meat workers, and 5 (2.0%) of the...

AIM To investigate whether presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome in the Netherlands is caused by Histoplasma capsulatum and whether other risk factors might play a role in the pathogenesis of this syndrome. METHODS 23 patients were clinically diagnosed as having presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome based on the following criteria: peripapillary atrophy, punched out lesions, a macular dis...

The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of occurrence and variety of intestinal parasites among free-living wild animals. Fecal samples from wild mammals and birds at rehabilitation centers in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo were analyzed by sedimentation and flotation-centrifugation methods. Parasite eggs, oocysts, cysts and/or trophozoites were found in 71%...