Wilson, Angela

Fearon, Deborah

2018-06-13

Few published studies are available describing the prevalence of paediatric strongyloidiasis in endemic areas within Australia. This literature review and exploratory clinical audit presents the first seroprevalence data for paediatric patients in Central Australia. A total of 16.1% (30/186) of paediatric inpatients tested for in 2016 were seropositive (95% CI: 11.5% to 22.1%). Eosinophilia of unknown aetiology was the most common indication for testing (91.9%). Seropositive patients were significantly more likely to reside in communities outside of Alice Springs ( = 0.02). Seropositive patients were noted to have higher mean eosinophil counts with a mean difference of 0.86 × 10⁸/L (95% CI: 0.56 to 1.16, < 0.0001), although the limited utility of eosinophilia as a surrogate marker of strongyloidiasis has been described previously. All seropositive patients were Indigenous. There was no significant difference in ages between groups. There was a male predominance in the seropositive group, although this was not significant ( = 0.12). Twelve patients had known human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) status and all were seronegative. Further research describing the epidemiology of strongyloidiasis in Central Australia is required.

BBioMedSci MBBS Hons, Paediatric Senior Registrar, Department of Paediatrics, Alice Springs Hospital, P.O. Box 2234, Alice Springs NT 0871, Australia. angela.wilson@nt.gov.au.

FRACP, Head of Department, Department of Paediatrics, Alice Springs Hospital, P.O. Box 2234, Alice Springs NT 0871, Australia. Deborah.fearon@nt.gov.au.

Trop Med Infect Dis . 2018 Jun 13;3(2):64. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed3020064.

2414-6366

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30274460/?otool=iaurydwlib

https://hdl.handle.net/10137/13808

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Central Australia

Indigenous

Strongyloides stercoralis

child health

epidemiology

strongyloidiasis

Paediatric Strongyloidiasis in Central Australia.

Journal Article

Publication