Cysticercosis-related hospitalizations in the United States, 1998-2011

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 92; no. 2; pp. 354 - 359
• Main Authors: O'Keefe, Kaitlin A, Eberhard, Mark L, Shafir, Shira C, Wilkins, Patricia, Ash, Lawrence R, Sorvillo, Frank J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Animals; Child; Child, Preschool; Comorbidity; Cost of Illness; Cysticercosis - epidemiology; Cysticercosis - mortality; Female; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; Sex Factors; Taenia solium; United States - epidemiology; Young Adult; United States; USA
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0506

Cysticercosis has become increasingly recognized as an important infection in the United States in recent decades. Despite its potential impact, there is a lack of comprehensive information on the nationwide burden of disease. To better define the burden of cysticercosis in the United States, we analyzed in-patient records using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample for 1998-2011 to estimate cysticercosis-related hospitalizations and patient/institutional characteristics. There were an estimated 33,060 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 29,610.5-36,510.3) cysticercosis-related hospitalizations nationwide, representing a hospitalization rate of 8.03 per million population. The highest proportion of cases were male (54.8%), Hispanic (62.0%), aged 18-44 (58.8%), and occurred in the West (45.1%). An estimated 459 deaths occurred, representing an in-hospital case-fatality rate of 1.4%. These findings indicate the burden of cysticercosis-related hospitalizations in the United States is considerable and may be greater than currently appreciated. Cysticercosis should be a nationally reportable disease.