Background: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis (CE) in Qom Province, central Iran using ELISA test.
Methods: Overall, 1564 serum samples (800 males and 764 females) were collected from selected subjects by randomized cluster sampling in 2011-2012. Sera were analyzed by ELISA test using AgB. Before sampling, a questionnaire was filled out for each case. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression for risk factors analysis.
Results: Seropositivity was 1.6% (25 cases). Males (2.2%) showed significantly more positivity than females (0.9%) (P= 0.03). There was no significant association between CE seropositivity and age group, occupation, and region. Age group of 30-60 years encompassed the highest rate of positivity. The seropositivity of CE was 2.1% and 1.2% for urban and rural cases respectively. Binary logistic regression showed that males were 2.5 times at higher risk for infection than females.
Conclusion: Although seroprevalence of CE is relatively low in Qom Province, yet due to the importance of the disease, all preventive measures should be taken into consideration.
Keywords: Cystic Echinococcosis; ELISA; Epidemiology; Iran; Risk factor.