Seroepidemiological Study of Hydatid Cyst Using AgB by ELISA in Patients Admitted to Central Laboratory of Baqiyatallah Hospital

Background: One of the most important parasitic diseases in human is cystic echinococcosis (CE) which is caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus. The disease is a health problem in the Middle East countries such as Iran. Objective: The aim of this study was seroepidemiological evaluation of human CE using antigen B by ELISA technique in patients referred to Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 909 serum samples were randomly prepared in the central laboratory. Antigen B was extracted from sheep hydatid cyst fluid (HCF). All serum samples were evaluated by indirect ELISA and the suspected cases were rechecked. Demographic characteristics were collected by a questionnaire and cutoff was calculated as X±2SD. Results: In the present study, 0.8% of the collected samples were seropositive by ELISA technique. Of the 909 participants, 498 (with 1% positive response) and 411 (with 0.49% positive response) were female and male, respectively. The majority of the cases were the employee and retired military personnel (with 1.05% positive response). The most frequent age ranges were 5059 and 7079 with 28.57% positive response in each and in participants with academic education (85.72%). There was no statistically significant association between hydatid cyst and variables evaluated in this study. Conclusion: Our results showed a low seroprevalence of human CE. It may be related to the lifestyle of people following the improvement in public health specially in urban communities.