European Echinococcosis Registry: Human Alveolar Echinococcosis, Europe, 1982-2000

Overview

Journal Emerg Infect Dis

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2003 Mar 20

PMID 12643830

Citations 140

Authors

Petra Kern

Karine Bardonnet

Elisabeth Renner

Herbert Auer

Zbigniew Pawlowski

Rudolf W Ammann

Dominique A Vuitton

Peter Kern

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Surveillance for alveolar echinococcosis in central Europe was initiated in 1998. On a voluntary basis, 559 patients were reported to the registry. Most cases originated from rural communities in regions from eastern France to western Austria; single cases were reported far away from the disease-"endemic" zone throughout central Europe. Of 210 patients, 61.4% were involved in vocational or part-time farming, gardening, forestry, or hunting. Patients were diagnosed at a mean age of 52.5 years; 78% had symptoms. Alveolar echinococcosis primarily manifested as a liver disease. Of the 559 patients, 190 (34%) were already affected by spread of the parasitic larval tissue. Of 408 (73%) patients alive in 2000, 4.9% were cured. The increasing prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in foxes in rural and urban areas of central Europe and the occurrence of cases outside the alveolar echinococcosis-endemic regions suggest that this disease deserves increased attention.

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