Neurocysticercosis: declining incidence among patients admitted to a large public hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Abstract

It has been stated that new cases of neurocysticercosis (NCC) are declining in some endemic regions over the past years. To confirm this assertion, we evaluated all NCC patients (n = 362) admitted to the Neurological Service of our Hospital from 1982 to 2011, and we noted a significant reduction in the incidence of NCC, when compared with the total number of patients admitted to the Service over the study years (6.4% of 2,723 patients from 1982 to 1991, 2.7% of 3,056 patients from 1992 to 2001, and 3.5% of 2,996 patients from 2002 to 2012; p < 0.0001). It is likely that improved sanitation, together with increased availability of neuroimaging machines which allow prompt recognition and management of NCC cases avoiding disease progression, were the main responsibles for our findings.

Keywords:

• Cysticercosis
• Neurocysticercosis
• Neurocysticercosis
• Incidence
• Guayaquil