A prospective seroepidemiological study of toxocariasis during early childhood in coastal Ecuador: potential for congenital transmission and risk factors for infection.

Background: Although Toxocara spp. infection has a worldwide distribution, to our knowledge, no data from birth cohorts have been reported in published studies on the potential for congenital transmission and determinants of infection in early childhood.

Methods: We followed 290 mother-infant pairs from birth to 5 years of age through periodic collection of data and samples at birth, 7 and 13 months and 2, 3 and 5 years of age.