Dr. Murai Éva - Gubányi András szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 27. (Budapest, 1994)

floatation enrichment method, carried out between the years 1968-1993 in county Nógrád. Taenia sp. infestations were found only in 25 cases out of 143,000 faecal samples (0.175 per thousand), which equals the national average. Taeniosis was detected by screening tests in one case in a region where cysticercosis of cattle was registered. A check-up of further families and tenders, which included 2396 individuals, also was negative. Furthermore, cysticercosis could not be detected by general diagnostic experiments carried out between the years 1980-1993. Considering the above facts, taeniosis might have originated from defecations of wandering gipsy populations, and infected faeces could cause an oncospheric infestation in cattle stocks. Ambulatory and hospital treatment of positive cases was mostly performed with Yomesan (Cestidin). The sex ratio of treated patients was 60 per cent females and 40 per cent males, which is slightly different from the national average (75 and 25 per cent, respectively). The age distribution of these individuals was very similar to the national average: the most frequently affected age group is 40to 60-year-olds, followed by 20- to 40-yearolds. The youngest and the oldest affected person was 16 and 73 years old, respectively. As regards the occupational pattern of taeniid infestations; 45,15 and 40 per cent of the cases occurred among industrial workers, family members (including kitchen staffs) and others (students, collective farmers), respectively. According to the national average, this infestation has mostly been demonstrated (45 %) among people employed in the meat processing industry. Almost half of the infected cases (48 %) were registered in the county seat (Fig. 1). The environs of the towns Pásztó and Rétság also were important areas of infestation. No symptoms were seen at all in the region of Szécsény and Bátonyterenye. Between the years 1968 and 1971, taeniosis showed an increasing trend in county Nógrád, compared to the national average, which decreased in that period (Fig. 2). Subsequently, in the years 1972-1975 the number of positive cases decreased in county Nógrád, in contrast to the national average. Since 1978 the infestation has shown the same trend as the national average. Cysticercosis reached the peak in the year 1975, then it tended to decrease. Fig.2. Frequency distribution of taeniosis by year (solid bar = Hungary; opened bar = county Nógrád)