Epidemiology of Echinococcal Infections of the Central Nervous System in Children

Incidence and Prevalence

• Unknown

Age Distribution

• Majority of cases in children: In a study performed by Onal et al. (37), a series of 30 cases comparing pediatric and adult patients are reported to reveal a range of 60-93% involvement in child population.

Sex Predilection

• None

Geographic Distribution

• South America, Africa, Mediterranean/Middle East, Australia: Because of the inefficiency of environmental health and protective care and the raising of animals, the prevalence of the disease is considered to be high in South America, Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern countries.  

Risk Factors

• Close contact with feces of carnivorous animals (domestic): Humans can play a role as intermediate hosts in the tapeworm life cycle. Humans become infected by ingesting tapeworm eggs passed from an infected carnivore. The route of infection is via fecal-oral spread from domestic animals (i.e., dogs) (34).Infection occurs most frequently when individuals handle or have contact with infected carnivores or inadvertently ingest food or drink water that is contaminated with fecal material containing tapeworm eggs (1, 16).
• Access to arterial circulation of host: In pediatric or adolescent patients with unexplained multiple intracranial hydatid cysts, the possibility of arterial embolism should be considered (49).

Relationships to Other Disease States and Syndromes

• None