HIGH PREVALENCE OF SEROLOGICAL MARKERS OF CYSTICERCOSIS AMONG EPILEPTIC MALAGASY CHILDREN

Neurocysticercosis (i.e. cerebral localization of the metacestode larv ae of Taenia solium) is believed to be a major cause of late onset epi lepsy in non-Muslim developing countries. To define its role in childh ood epilepsy in Madagascar, analysis of serological markers of cystice rcosis was performed in 256 children with unexplained epilepsy and in 113 controls. Sera were considered positive when high titres in ELISA were present together with at least one of the bands 13, 14, 18, 21, 2 4 or 32 kD on Western blot. Altogether, 17.6% of the patients versus n one of the controls were seropositive using these criteria. When analy sing the bands of the Western blot, those of 13, 14 and 18 were signif icantly more frequently detected in sera of epileptic children than in sera of controls. Neurocysticercosis can be considered the main cause of secondary childhood epilepsy in our country, Madagascar being one of the most important foci in the world.