Seroprevalence and associated risk factors of toxocariasis among college students in Taipei city, Taiwan

Background: Infection by Toxocara spp. is known to be significantly associated with partial epilepsy. It has become popular for people to raise dogs/cats as pets and consume roasted meat/viscera, and the status of Toxocara spp. infection, epi-lepsy awareness, and associated risk factors among the general population are cur-rently unknown in Taiwan. Methods: A seroepidemiological investigation among 203 college students (CSs), consisting of 110 males and 93 females with an average age of 21.5 ± 1.2 years, was conducted in 2009 in Taipei City. A Western blot analysis based on excretory-secre-tory antigens derived from Toxocara canis larvae (TcESs) was applied to determine the positivity of serum immunoglobulin G antibodies. A self-administered ques-tionnaire was also given to obtain information about demographic characteristics, epilepsy awareness, and risk factors. A logistic regression model was applied for the statistical analysis using SPSS software. Results: The overall seropositive rate of Toxocara spp. infection was 8.4% (17/203). As to epilepsy awareness, a non-significantly higher seroprevalence was found in CSs who claimed to "know" about epilepsy compared to those who did not know (P > 0.05). Conclusions: It appears that appropriate educational programs are urgently need-ed to provide correct knowledge related to the prevention and control measures against Toxocara spp. infections to avoid potential threats by this parasite to the general population in Taiwan.