Seroepidemiological Study of Human Hydatidosis in Meshkinshahr District,Ardabil Province, Iran

Background: the aim of this study was to conduct a sero-epidemiological survey in meshkinshahr, arda- bil province, northwestern iran to detect the rate of hydatidosis in the city and nearby villages. literature shows that no such study has been conducted so far. methods: overall, 670 serum samples were collected from 194 males and 476 females from patients re- ferred to different health centers of the region. all patients filled out a questionnaire and an informed con- sent. sera were analyzed using indirect-elisa test. ten ìg /ml antigens (antigen b derived from hydatid cyst fluid), serum dilutions of 1:500 and conjugate anti-human coombs with 1:10000 dilutions were util- ized to perform the test. data analysis was conducted using spss software ver. 11.5. results: the seroprevalence of human hydatidosis was 1.79% by elisa test in the region. this rate for females was 1.68% and males 2.6%, respectively. there was no significant difference as regards all fac- tors studied and the seropositivity. according to job, farmers and ranchmen had the highest rate of infec- tion as 3.17%. the sero-prevalence of infection was 2.6%% in illiterate people which showed the highest rate. as regards residency, urban life showed no significant difference with rural life (1.1% vs. 2.58%). age group of 69-90 yr old, with 4.62% as prevalence had the highest rate of positivity. conclusion: obtained sero-prevalence of hydatidosis shows more or less a resemblance to other cities of iran, although due to the specific condition of the city we expected more rate of sero-positivity.