Risk Factors for Human Cystic Echinococcosis in Latvia

Sniedze Laivacuma, Gunita Deksne, Pikka Jokelainen, Andrejs Ivanovs, Larisa Zaharova, Indra Zeltiņa, Ludmila Vīksna, Angelika Krumina

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite the importance of Echinococcus spp. in the Baltic States, little is known about the locally relevant risk factors for contracting the human disease they can cause. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of selected potential risk factors in individuals diagnosed with cystic echinococcosis (CE) in 1999-2015 and matched controls. The diagnoses of the cases were based on combination of serology and diagnostic imaging, and they were not confirmed to species level of the causative parasite. A total of 46 cases and 46 control individuals were included in the study and answered questions covering a selection of potential risk factors for CE. Living in rural dwelling, owning dogs kept or roaming outdoors, owning dogs fed with viscera of livestock, having close contact with dogs or cats, owning livestock, home slaughtering, and having hunters in the family were significantly more common among the cases than the controls. The identified risk factors can inform planning preventive measures, but species/strain-level diagnoses of human echinococcosis would help in targeting the preventive measures more specifically.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)430-433
Number of pages4
JournalVector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
Volume19
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2019

Keywords*

  • Echinococcus
  • Latvia
  • cystic echinococcosis
  • risk factors

Field of Science*

  • 3.2 Clinical medicine

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Risk Factors for Human Cystic Echinococcosis in Latvia'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this