Prevalence of human trichostrongyliasis in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Trichostrongylus is one of the most common helminth parasites, with a wide global distribution. It is the causative agent of trichostrongyliasis infection, which is prevalent in humans and other ruminants. These parasites are the main cause of mortality and morbidity. The infection is mainly contracted by ingesting larvae at the infective stage. In this study, we aimed to identify the prevalence rate of Trichostrongylus infection in the Iranian general population to progress to a complete description of the disease situation in Iran for future use. English and Persian databases, such as PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar are the English databases and Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Iran Medex, and Iran Doc, as well as dissertations of graduate student was searched. Our search resulted in 18 reports published between 1984 and 2015, including 13 published in Persian and five in English. The random errors method was used for this meta-analysis. The result reveals that the overall seroprevalence rate of Trichostrongylus in the general population in Iran was 10% (95% confidence interval = 1.6–17%). A significant linear trend of increasing overall prevalence by age was noted (P < 0.0001). According to our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of Trichostrongylus infection in Iran. The results indicate that the prevalence of Trichostrongylus infection in Iran is 0.01%. Based on these findings, increasing animal research and epidemiologic studies in Iran is important to prevent and control zoonotic parasites.