Türkiye Parazitoloji Dergisi, 29 (3): 177-179, 2005 Acta Parasitologica Turcica © Türkiye Parazitoloji Derneği © Turkish Society for Parasitology Prevalence of Toxocara spp. Eggs in Public Parks of the City of Aydın, Turkey Fazıl Serdar GÜREL 1 , Sema ERTUĞ 2 , Pınar OKYAY 3 Adnan Menderes University Medical School, 1 Department of Family Medicine; 2 Department of Parasitology; 3 Department of Public Health, Aydın SUMMARY: Children are the risk group for toxocariasis because they often play in public parks which are easily contaminated and also because pica is common among children. In the current study, soil samples from 111 parks in Aydin, a city in western Turkey, were assessed. Out of 111, 21 (18.91%) were contaminated with Toxocara spp eggs. Our public parks showed a high toxocariasis risk in our city and the need for preventive studies. Key Words: Toxocara, Aydin, public park Aydın İl Merkezindeki Parklarda Toxocara spp. Yumurta Görülme Sıklığının Araştırılması ÖZET: Çocukların Toxocara spp. yumurtaları ile kontamine olan parklarda oynamaları ve pikanın bu yaş grubunda sık görülmesi nede- niyle toxocariasis riskinin çocuklarda yüksek olduğu bilinmektedir. Bu çalışmada Aydın il merkezindeki 111 parktan alınan toprak ör- neklerinin incelenmiş ve bu örneklerin 21 (%18,91)’inde Toxocara spp yumurtası saptanmıştır. İlimiz parklarının Toxocara spp yumurta- ları ile kontamine olduğu saptanmış olup, insanlara bulaşmayı önleyici tedbirlerin alınmasının gerekli olduğu düşünülmüştür. Anahtar Sözcükler: Toxocara, Aydın, park INTRODUCTION The ascarids Toxocara cati and Toxocara canis are probably the most common gastrointestinal helminths of domestic canids and felids world-wide (25). Both species are known causative agents of human toxocariasis. Human toxocariasis is acquired by ingesting the ascarids eggs, which are shed in the feces of infected dogs and cats The clinical spectrum of the disease comprises four syndromes, namely visceral larva migrans (VLM), ocular larva migrans, and the more recently recognized ‘common’ (in adults) and ‘covert’ (in children) pictures (19). Sero-epidemiological studies showed that many people, especially in children, are infected with Toxocara canis (30). Children are the risk group for this infection because they are often playing in the places which are easily contaminated (24). Moreover, geophagia or soil eating, a specific type of pica that increases the risk of toxocariasis, is common among children (19, 27). The high risk places for contamination are especially playgrounds and the other public parks (1, 8, 9, 29). In Medline search, there are a few studies done in our country on the prevalence of Toxocara eggs in soil samples. Additionally, they are all from different parts of Turkey, without a western region sample (12, 22). The current study is designed to predict the prevalence of Toxocara eggs in public parks and playgrounds of central Aydin province, a western city of Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS There were 167 public parks in central Aydin city at the study time. The prevalence of Toxocara eggs in soil samples was estimated as 30% in average; a sample size was calculated as 111 (66.5%) out of 167 parks. The city was divided into 3 strata according to the distance to the Centrum and number of sampling places was calculated according the strata weight for parks. Only one sample was taken from each park. The samples were especially taken from the places where children preferably played games. A total of 250-300 grams soil including an area of 20 cm 2 with 10 cm in depth was collected from each park. The sample was separately carried to the laboratory in a polyethylene bag. The sampling was done from the late May to the early June. Soil samples are Geliş tarihi/Submission date: 11 Mart/11 March 2005 Düzeltme tarihi/Revision date: 21 Nisan/21 April 2005 Kabul tarihi/Accepted date: 18 Mayıs/18 May 2005 Yazışma /Correspoding Author: Pınar Okyay Tel: (+90) (256) 225 31 66 / 150 Fax: (+90) (256) 212 01 46 E-mail: pinarokyay@adu.edu.tr