We investigated the sero-prevalence of toxocariasis among healthy Korean adults in 1999. A total of 314 sera from normal inhabitants in Whachon-gun, Gangwondo, Korea was examined for specific antibody levels against excretory-secretory products of second stage larvae of Toxocara (TES). The presence of cross-reactions with other helminthiases such as cysticercosis, paragonimiasis, sparganosis or...

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...

OBJECTIVE To alert pediatricians to the neurologic consequences of toxocariasis and to describe the first pediatric case of neurotoxocariasis with concomitant cerebral, cerebellar and peripheral nervous system involvement. DESCRIPTION We report a case of neurotoxocariasis in a previously healthy 5-year-old boy with unusual symptoms and multi-site involvement of both the central and peripheral...

Toxocariasis is a parasitic disease caused by the larval stage of Toxocara cati and T. canis, which live in the intestinal system of cats (T. cati) and dogs (T. canis). Infective eggs can enter the gastrointestinal system by the oral route via foods contaminated with feces of dogs or cats or via dirty contaminated hands. The larvae penetrate the small intestine and migrate to visceral organs by...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Although human ocular toxocariasis causes severe vision defect, little is known about its aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment. To develop a new animal model for human ocular toxocariasis, ophthalmological findings of fundi in Mongolian gerbils, Meriones unguiculatus, and BALB/c mice were investigated following infection with Toxocara canis. METHODS Using an ophthalmoscope, whi...

Toxocariasis in man is associated with three syndromes which are visceral larva migrans, ocular larva migrans and covert toxocariasis. Although neurotoxocariasis is defined as the fourth syndrome of toxocariasis, it is usually considered as a neurological disease which is usually concomitant with visceral larva migrans. In this report, a case of brain abscess caused by toxocariasis was presente...

Toxocariasis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by larvae of ascarid nematodes of dogs or cats, Toxocara canis or T. cati. Diagnosis of human toxocariasis currently relies on serology that uses T. canis excretory-secretory antigen to detect specific IgG antibodies by ELISA. We investigated the serodiagnostic efficacy of ELISA using crude antigen of T. canis larvae (TCLA). Serum specimens of 64 clin...

Diagnosis of larval migrans (LM) is usually done by immunodiagnostic methods. These methods, however, simply show the presence or absence of antibody but not the active infection of the patients. Therefore, we aimed to establish a diagnostic method for detecting circulating Toxocara canis antigen using a sandwich, ELISA. Monoclonal antibodies (MAb) were produced against the excretory-secretory ...

Human toxocariasis is a zoonotic infection caused by the larval stage of Toxocara species. A relationship between toxocariasis and multiple sclerosis has been hypothesized. In this study, we aimed at investigating the frequency of Toxocara infection among multiple sclerosis patients and the epidemiological factors associated with disease. Sixty-eight patients with multiple sclerosis and 70 heal...