Comparação de métodos para recuperação de ovos de Toxocara spp. em amostras de solo

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the efficiency of different techniques to recover Toxocara spp. eggs from artificially and naturally contaminated soil samples. In the first stage, soil samples (n= 12 samples of 1g) were artificially contaminated with 100 eggs of T. canis. Three techniques were used: 1) centrifugal-sedimentation after soil filtration in a series of four sieves, using distilled water (300, 212, 90, and 63 μm); 2) centrifugal-flotation with zinc sulfate (d= 1.35 g/cm3) after sieving; and, 3) centrifugal-flotation with zinc sulfate without sieving. The recovery of eggs using technique 1 was significantly superior to the other techniques, with 78.25%, 16.33%, and 10.92% positivity, respectively. In the second stage, soil samples from 15 public squares/parks were evaluated over a period of 6 months, comparing the more efficient techniques in stage 1 (techniques 1 and 2). The recovery of eggs by technique 1 was more efficient. In the three out of the 6 months evaluated, there was a significant difference in the mean number of eggs recovered, using the technique of centrifugal-sedimentation with sieving. The technique is low cost, easy to implement, and does not require solutions which present environmental risks for its execution.