Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii among pregnant women in Tikrit city- Salahaldeen Province

Abstract

Background  Toxoplasmosis  is  a  parasitic  disease  caused  by  the  an obligatory  intracellular  protozoan  Toxoplasma  gondii,  which  is  widely distributed around the world . Infection is acquired by ingestion of viable tissue cysts in meat or Oocytes excreted by cats that contaminate food or water.  Congenital  transmission  may  occur  when  an  uninfected  mother acquired primary infection during pregnancy.
The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii among pregnant women in Tikrit city-Salahaldeen Province. Pateints  &  Methods:  Blood  samples  from  290  pregnant  women  were collected. Samples were collected during the period from October 2010 to July 2011. Serum was separated and tested for T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using a chromatographic immunoassay.
The Results The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to T. gondii was 30% while IgM was 20.68%. The seroprevalence of T. gondii increased with age, the highest IgG and IgM were among participants aged (36 – 45) years 40.74%  and  30.55%  respectively.  The  analysis  showed  that  the seroprevalence  of  Toxoplasmosis  is  positivity  correlated  with  the  age, pregnancy trimester and the occupational of the women The conclusion of this study the women in their 1st trimester of pregnancy were significantly at high level of infection with T. gondii 32.08% and 22.44% of IgG and IgM respectively, while in the 2nd trimester showed the same result to some extent for IgG 32.25%, but showed low rate for IgM 9.67% in the same trimester while no recorded any infection in 3rd trimester in the study.