SEROPREVALENCE OF TOXOCARIASIS IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS IN MADRID AND TENERIFE, SPAIN

A study on the seroprevalence of toxocariasis, using ELISA with Toxoca ra larval excretory-secretory antigens, was carried out on human popul ations in two regions of Spain. Sera from a population of 195 children from Madrid and 143 children from Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Isle s), showed a prevalence of 0% and 4.2% respectively. Sera from a popul ation of 272 adults from Madrid and 803 adults from Santa Cruz de Tene rife showed a prevalence of 3.6% and 17.4%. Reasons for these differen ces in the seroprevalence of Toxocara in the different age groups from the two regions are discussed.