Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29847574›Full record

ArticlePloS one2018

Low incidence of helminth infections (schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis, filariasis, toxocariasis) among Dutch long-term travelers: A prospective study, 2008-2011.

Femke W Overbosch, Tom van Gool, Amy Matser, Gerard J B Sonder

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Femke W OverboschDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service (GGD), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-0561-2877
Tom van GoolDepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine and AIDS, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Amy MatserDepartment of Infectious Disease Research and Prevention, Public Health Service (GGD), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Gerard J B SonderDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service (GGD), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam · NLGGD Amsterdam · NLNetherlands Center for Occupational Diseases · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite the considerable burden of helminth infections in developing countries and increasing international travel, little is known about the risks of infection for travelers.

objectiveWe studied the attack and incidence rate of serology confirmed strongyloidiasis, filariasis, and toxocariasis among long-term travelers and associated factors. A second objective was to evaluate eosinophilia as a positive/negative predictive value (PPV/NPV) for a recent helminth infection.

methodsFrom 2008 to 2011, clients of the Public Health Service travel clinic planning travel to (sub)tropical countries for 12-52 weeks were invited to participate in a prospective study. Participants kept a weekly diary, recording itinerary, symptoms, and physician visits during travel and completed a post-travel questionnaire. Pre- and post-travel blood samples were serologically tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against Schistosoma species, Strongyloides stercoralis, filarial species, and Toxacara species and were used for a blood cell count. Factors associated with recent infection were analyzed using Poisson regression. Differences among groups of travelers were studied using chi square tests.

resultsFor the 604 participants, median age was 25 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 23-29), 36% were male, median travel duration was 20 weeks (IQR: 15-25), and travel purpose was predominantly tourism (62%). Destinations were Asia (45%), Africa (18%), and the Americas (37%). Evidence of previous infection was found in 13/604 participants: antibodies against Schistosoma spp. in 5 (0.8%), against S.stercoralis in 3 (0.5%), against filarial species in 4 (0.7%), and against Toxocara spp. in 1 (0.2%). Ten recent infections were found in 9 participants (3, 1, 6, 0 cases, in the above order), making the attack rates 0.61, 0.17, 1.1 and 0, and the incidence rates per 1000 person-months 1.5, 0.34, 2.6 and 0. The overall PPV and NPV of eosinophila for recent infection were 0 and 98%, respectively.

conclusionsThe risk of the helminth infections under study in this cohort of long-term travelers was low. Routine screening for eosinophilia appeared not to be of diagnostic value.

Indexed as

AdultAntibodies, HelminthEosinophiliaFemaleFilariasisHumansImmunoglobulin GIncidenceMaleNetherlandsPoisson DistributionProspective StudiesSchistosomiasisStrongyloidiasisToxocariasisTravel-Related IllnessAntibodies, HelminthImmunoglobulin G

Identifiers

PMID29847574
PMCPMC5976197
OpenAlexW2806214257

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.