Clinical Features of Covert Toxocariasis

The clinical features found in 14 children with toxocara ELISA titres of greater than or equal to 0.7 were compared with those found in 34 toxocara negative children. Blood eosinophils were elevated in 7 of the 14 patients and the highest eosinophilia was 14%. There was a highly significant association between hepatomegaly, cough, sleep disturbance and a raised titre (p less than 0.01). Behaviour disturbance, abdominal pain and headache were also significantly associated with a raised titre (p less than 0.05). The combination of abdominal pain, headache and cough was even more significantly associated with a high titre (p less than 0.0005) than were individual clinical features. It is suggested that in addition to the two well recognised clinical conditions of visceral larva migrans and ocular toxocariasis the clinical entity of covert toxocariasis should receive recognition. Eosinophilia may or may not be present in this condition.