Background

Toxocariasis is one of the neglected zoonosis with considerable public health importance around the world. The current study aimed to elucidate the overall prevalence of Toxocara infection in human and definitive hosts and also the contamination of soil and raw vegetables with the ova of these parasites, in Iran, using systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods

Six English and Persian databases were explored from 2000 to 2017 using the terms toxocariasis, Toxocara spp., visceral larva migrans, Iran, epidemiology, and prevalence. This meta-analysis conducted using STATA, and for all statistical tests, a p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. The random-effects model was used to the report of the pooled prevalence with a 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results

The pooled prevalence of toxocariasis in human was calculated as 11% (95% CI 8–13%). In terms of definitive hosts, the pooled prevalence of Toxocara infection in dogs and cats were calculated as 17% (95% CI 14–20%) and 37% (95% CI 26–48%), respectively. Also, the pooled prevalence of Toxocara spp. eggs in the soil and raw vegetable samples were calculated as 18% (95% CI 13–23%) and 2% (95% CI 1–3%), respectively.

Conclusions

The results of current study demonstrate that toxocariasis should be taken more seriously by health authorities. Implementing an appropriate control program is necessary to reduce the incidence of this disease in Iran.

中文翻译：

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伊朗弓形虫病的系统评价和荟萃分析：是时候认真对待了吗？

背景

弓形虫病是一种被忽视的人畜共患病，在世界范围内对公共卫生具有重要意义。本研究旨在通过系统的回顾和荟萃分析，阐明在伊朗和人类最终宿主中Toxocara感染的总体患病率，以及这些寄生虫卵对卵和土壤和生蔬菜的污染。

方法

从2000年至2017年，使用弓形虫病，Toxocara spp。，内脏幼虫，伊朗，流行病学和流行率等术语探索了六个英语和波斯数据库。使用STATA进行的荟萃分析，对于所有统计检验，p值均小于0.05被认为是显着的。随机效应模型用于以95％置信区间（CI）汇总合并患病率的报告。

结果

人间弓形虫病的合并患病率经计算为11％（95％CI 8-13％）。就确定的宿主而言，猫和狗中弓形虫感染的合并患病率分别为17％（95％CI 14–20％）和37％（95％CI 26–48％）。同样，Toxocara spp的合并患病率。土壤和生蔬菜样品中的卵分别计算为18％（95％CI 13–23％）和2％（95％CI 1–3％）。

结论

目前的研究结果表明，卫生当局应更加重视弓形虫病。实施适当的控制计划对于减少伊朗这种疾病的发生是必要的。