ABSTRACT
Purpose
Ocular toxocariasis (OT) is a zoonotic infection caused by larval stages of Toxocara canis and T. cati. The current review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the global prevalence of OT.
Methods
Five English (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) databases were explored and 101 articles met the inclusion criteria.
Results
The pooled prevalence (95% confidence interval) of OT was higher in immunological studies (9%. 6–12%) than in studies that applied ophthalmic examination (1%. 1–2%). The lower middle-income level countries had the highest prevalence (6%. 2–12%) as well as the African region (10%. 7–13%). The highest infection rate (4%. 2–7%) was detected in the 1–25 mean age group.
Conclusion
Regular anthelminthic treatment of cats and dogs, and removal of animal feces from public places must be considered.
Acknowledgment
The authors appreciate Professor Celia Holland for her support with the current systematic review and meta-analysis.
Disclosure statement
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.