HUMAN TOXOCARA INFECTION OF THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Infection with Toxocara canis is a common world-wide human helminthias is, which rarely elicits central nervous system (CNS) impairment. A ca se-control study to investigate this discrepancy was carried out, in w hich the cases were 27 adult neurological inpatients for whom a defini te aetiological diagnosis was lacking, and for whom positive immunodia gnosis of toxocariasis had been obtained, both in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in serum. Two control groups were used. Controls were adult inpatients with other neurological diseases who had no evidence of T. canis infection of the CNS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis did not reveal any positive relation between case status and clinical signs. A significant association was observed between case status and an elevated CSF cell count. Rural residence, ownership of dogs, and de mentia were shown to be risk factors for toxocaral infection of CNS. T hese results suggest that migration of T. canis larvae in the human br ain does not frequently induce a recognizable neurological syndrome bu t is correlated with the association of several risk factors including exposure to dogs, a status possibly responsible for repeated low-dose infections.