Hoe onschuldig is Toxocara?

– We have investigated 234 children (3-6 years of age) in The Hague, The Netherlands, for the presence of antibodies angainst Toxocara. Of these children 26 (11.1) were seropositive to Toxocara. cross-reactions wit antibodies against Ascaris could be excluded. Of the seropositive children 31 had asthma or bronchitis, while this percentage was only 12 for the seronegative children. This might indicate that toxocariasis causes asthma or bronchitis in some children. If further investigations corroborate this hypothesis, one has to conclude that preventing human toxocariasis contributed to prevent a number of cases of asthma and bronchitis.