Report on clinical manifestations and treatment difficulties of toxocara infection in six children in Bulgaria

Abstract

Toxocariasis is usually manifested as a visceral larva migrans and is a rarely reported disease in many countries worldwide. In this report, we describe six cases of children, who were hospitalized due to iron deficiency anemia. In the course of their hospitalization, high eosinophilic pleocytosis in peripheral blood was detected and subsequent serological testing for toxocariasis revealed positive results. Laboratory tests were carried out for all 6 patients with two methods-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay IgG and Western blot. Improvement in the clinical and laboratory results was achieved using two courses of albendazole, anti-anemic drugs and vitamins. Regarding this issue, we consider that in the differential diagnosis of severe anemia in children toxocariasis should be included.

Keywords

Toxocariasis - anemia - eosinophilia - systemic visceral larva migrans