Table 2. Neglected parasitic infections in the United States.
Neglected Parasitic Infection | Selected Prevalence Data | Major Risk Factors | Clinical Sequelae in Adults and Children 1 | Clinical Sequelae in Adults and Children 2 | Congenital Clinical Sequelae | References |
Toxocariasis | >21% Seroprevalence among African- Americans (up to 2.8 million African-Americans); >17% seroprevalence in the American South | African-American race, male sex, poverty, low education level, lead ingestion, contact with dogs, coinfection with Toxoplasma | Neurologic and psychiatric: cognitive delays; epilepsy; ocular manifestations | Pulmonary: diminished lung function asthma | Not well established | [13]–[22] |
Cysticercosis | Up to 41,000–169,000 infected persons; likely widely under-recognized, with only an estimated 1,000 hospitalized cases diagnosed | Hispanic immigrants | Neurologic: epilepsy; chronic headaches | None | Not well established | [24]–[28] |
Chagas Disease | 300,167 cases | Hispanic-Americans | Cardiovascular: cardiomyopathy neurysms; conduction disturbances; sudden death | Gastrointestinal: megaviscera | Congenital: congenital Chagas disease syndrome | [29]–[38] |
Toxoplasmosis | 1.1 million new cases annually, including 21,505 cases of ocular toxoplasmosis and up to 4,000 cases of congenital toxoplasmosis | African-American ethnicity and poverty | Neurologic and psychiatric: cerebritis; schizophrenia; bipolar and other mood disorders | Ocular: retinitis and retinal scars and other ocular findings | Congenital toxoplasmosis syndrome: hydrocephalus; chorioretinitis; intracranial calcifications; cognitive deficits; hearing loss | [39]–[47] |
Trichomoniasis | 7.4 million new cases annually | African-American ethnicity—10 times more common | Genitourinary: vaginitis; pelvic inflammatory disease; pregnancy complications | HIV coinfections | Neonatal infections | [48]–[52] |
Total | Approximately 12 million incident or prevalent infections, including some people living with chronic sequelae |
Features that produce clinical manifestations and sequelae similar to selected noncommunicable diseases.