| Although human toxocariasis can lead to serious complications including neurological, ocular and visceral complications,
there is a lack of comprehensive epidemiological information about the seroprevalence of Toxocara species in humans. In
the present study, we analysed and reviewed the overall seroprevalence of human toxocariasis in Iran. The data collection
was systematically undertaken on published articles using the PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Scopus
databases. A total of 27 studies from the past two decades reporting seroprevalence of human toxocariasis met
our eligibility criteria. The pooled proportion of Toxocara infection was estimated as 6.58% (95% confidence interval
¼3.98–9.77). A wide variation between different studies was observed (Q statistic¼799.37, df¼26, P<0.0001,
and I2¼96.7%). The seroprevalence rate of toxocariasis in the Iranian population is relatively high; contamination of the
environment by eggs from the host as well as from household dogs and cats should be blamed. |