Toxocarosis remains an important neglected parasitic infection representing one of the most common zoonotic infections caused by the parasite Toxocara canis or less frequently by Toxocara cati. The epidemiology of the disease is complex due to its transmission route by accidental ingestion of embryonated Toxocara eggs or larvae from tissues from domestic or wild paratenic hosts. Even though Toxocara infects about 1,4 billion people worldwide, global epidemiological data regarding the relationship between seropositivity and toxocarosis is limited. Although the vast majority of the infected individuals remains asymptomatic or experiences a mild disease, the infection is associated with important health and socioeconomic consequences, particularly in underprivileged, tropical, and subtropical areas. Toxocarosis is a disease with multiple clinical presentations, which are classified into five distinct forms: the classical visceral larva migrans, ocular toxocarosis, common toxocarosis, covert toxocarosis, and cerebral toxocarosis or neurotoxocarosis. Anthelmintic agents as for example albendazole or mebendazole is the recommended treatment, whereas a combination with topical or systemic corticosteroids for specific forms is suggested. Prevention strategies include educational programs, behavioural and hygienic changes, enhancement of the role of veterinarians, and anthelmintic regimens to control active infections.

BACKGROUND: We investigated whether immigrants from Southeast Europe (SE) and Swiss patients have different reasons for visiting the emergency department (ED). METHODS: Our retrospective data analysis for the years 2013-2017 describes the pattern of ED consultations for immigrants from SE living in Switzerland (Canton Bern), in comparison with Swiss nationals, with a focus on type of referral and reason for admission. RESULTS: A total of 153,320 Swiss citizens and 12,852 immigrants from SE were included in the study. The mean age was 51.30 (SD=21.13) years for the Swiss patients and 39.70 (SD=15.87) years for the SE patients. For some countries of origin (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey), there were highly statistically significant differences in sex distribution with the predominance for male. SE immigrants had a greater proportion of patients in the lower triage level (level 3: SE: 67.3% vs. Swiss: 56.0%) and a greater proportion of patients in the high triage level than the Swiss population (level 1: SE: 3.4% vs. Swiss: 8.8%,). SE patients of working age (16-65 years) were six times more often admitted by ambulance than older (≥65 years) SE patients, whereas in the Swiss population this ratio was similar. In both groups, fast track service was primarily used for patients of working age (<65) and more than three times more often in the SE than the Swiss group (SE: 39.1%, Swiss: 12.6%). CONCLUSION: We identified some indications in access to primary care in Emergency Department for immigrants highlighting the need for attention to the role of organizational characteristics of primary health care in the Switzerland. The authors have highlighted the need for professional support to improve the quality of healthcare for immigrants. In the future, more primary care services and general practitioners will need to be provided with a migrant background.