mopolitan roundworms that infect dogs, especially puppies, and cats. T. canis infection in humans occurs by ingestion of the embryonic eggs, which are shed in the feces of infected dogs. Toxocariasis is manifested in three different syndromes: visceral larva migrans (VLM), ocular larva migrans (OLM), and covert toxocariasis (1, 2). VLM is usually a disease of children 1 to 6 year old, and it ma...

See related article on page 126 The article by Figueiredo et al.,1 published in the current issue of Jornal de Pediatria, provides important information about clinical and epidemiological investigation into toxocariasis in the pediatric population. The study analyzes the association of Toxocara canis infection with some variables, such as asthma, cough, recurrent pneumonia, hepatomegaly, and eo...

The aim of this study is to ascertain the relationship between ingestion of raw cow liver and Toxocara canis infection. A total of 150 apparently healthy adults were divided into 2 groups; 1 group consisted of 86 adults with positive results of Toxocara ELISA, and the other group of 64 adults with negative results. One researcher collected the history of ingestion of raw cow liver within 1 year...

Toxocariasis is caused by larva of the nematode Toxocara canis or catis. It has been found in a survey that in Southern England about 20% of dogs and cats are infected by the parasite (Woodruff, Thacker, and Shah, 1964). Man becomes infected by ingesting eggs which develop into larvae in his gastro-intestinal tract and then penetrate through the wall invading various organs in the body, most co...

Human infection by toxocara larvae has been thought to be predominantly a disease of young children, but the percentage of the population with antibodies to this nematode worm has recently been shown to increase with age. Although a definite diagnosis of ocular toxocariasis can be made only by identifying the larva histologically, the evidence in three cases presenting with recent uniocular los...

We describe a farmer who presented with a clinical picture of a transverse thoracic myelitis. MRI showed inflammatory lesions in brain and thoracic spinal cord. Toxocariasis was suspected because of eosinophilia in blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and this diagnosis was confirmed immunologically. He was successfully treated with antihelminthics in combination with corticosteroids. Neurotoxocarias...

The case history is described of a woman who presented with bilateral pleural effusions caused by Toxocara canis infestation. The condition responded rapidly to treatment.

Human toxocariasis is a helminthic zoonosis caused by larval stages of Toxocara canis and, less frequently, by T. cati, the roundworms of dogs and cats, respectively. Accidentally, humans ingest embryonated eggs containing the infective larva which are released in the upper small intestine and then pass through the intestinal epithelium to reach the blood vessels, where they can migrate to the ...

Toxocariasis is a zoonotic disease in that IgM titers can remain high for long periods making difficult to determine the stage of the disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of indirect ELISA, associated with urea, to discriminate between the acute and chronic toxocariasis. IgG avidity was evaluated in 25 BALB/c mice experimentally infected with 1000 Toxocara canis eg...