Seroepidemiology of Human Hydatidosis in Golestan Province, Iran

Background: hydatidosis is one of the most prevalent zoonotic diseases worldwide. so far no survey was conducted todetermine the rate of human hydatidosis in golestan province, so using ifa and elisa tests the prevalence of this diseasewas detected in patients referred to health centers in this province.methods: totally 1024 serum samples were collected from patients referred to different health centers in 4 cities ofgloestan province including gorgan, gonbad kawoos, aliabad katool and kordkoy. all the sera were examined using ifaand elisa tests.results: twenty four cases (2.34%) were positive for hydatidosis in golestan province using ifa, whereas 22 cases(2.15%) showed positivity using elisa. gorgan, gonbadkaoos, aliabad katool and kordkoy demonstrated the rate ofpositivity as 1.41%, 2.40%, 5.36% and 2.30%, respectively, but no significant difference was seen. as to positivity, therewas no significant difference between age groups, sex, different cities and rural or urban life, but a significant different wasseen according to job and literacy (p< 0.001). according to job and literacy, housewives and illiterates had the highest rateof infection as 3.67% and 3.72%, respectively. as regards residency, urban life showed no significant difference with rurallife (2.47% vs. 2.45%). age group of 40-49 years old had the highest rate of positivity (3.95%). females were more infectedthan males (3.16% vs. 1.93%).conclusion: the rate of prevalence in this province shows somehow a resemblance with the other cities in iran. consideringthe lifestyle in this province a complementary study is suggested in all related cities.