Contamination of Children's Playground Sandpits with Toxocara eggs in İstanbul, Turkey

Authors: MÜFİT TOPARLAK, AYŞEN GARGILI, ERKUT TÜZER, VEDAT KELEŞ, MELTEM ULUTAŞ ESATGİL, HANDAN ÇETİNKAYA

Abstract: In this study conducted in İstanbul, the contamination of sandpits in children's playgrounds with Toxocara eggs was investigated. For this purpose, a total of 132 sand samples were taken from the sandpits of 63 playgrounds between November 1998 and September 1999. Toxocara eggs were found in 10 (15.9%) of 63 playgrounds. A total of 22 eggs were recovered. The average egg number per 100 g of sand was found to be 0.067 for the overall examined playgrounds and 0.44 (ranging from 0.2 to 1.2) for the contaminated ones.

Keywords: Toxocara, Sandpit, Playground, Contamination, Prevalence, İstanbul, Turkey

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