Toxoplasma gondii among pregnant women attending antenatal care in a district hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease that is asymptomatic in many but can spread through the placenta during pregnancy causing miscarriage, stillbirth, intrauterine death, and neurologic impairments. This study reports on the proportion and risk factors associated with the seropositivity of Toxoplasma gondii among pregnant women visiting the antenatal care unit of the Nkawie-Toase Government Hospital, Ghana. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among pregnant women attending antenatal care at a district hospital in Ghana. The participants were selected randomly for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information and data on possible risk factors associated with toxoplasmosis. Serum samples from the participants were screened for exposure to T. gondii using a commercial ELISA kit. The associations of the risk factors with seropositivity were tested using logistic regression. Results: There were 84 women who participated in this study. The mean age of the sample was 26.96 ± 5.67 years; 64.29% had basic education, 21.43% were traders and 14.29% were farmers. Forty-seven women (55.95%) tested seropositive for T. gondii, 44 (52.38%) for IgG and 3 (3.57%) for IgM. Women involved as traders (OR 18,, p = 0.003) and farmers (OR 6.75,, p = 0.033) had significantly higher risk of testing seropositive. Conclusion: High proportions of pregnant women in this study were found to be exposed to T. gondii. To prevent negative pregnancy outcomes, pregnant women attending antenatal care be educated and routinely screened for T. gondii infection.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Toxoplasmosis Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Uyo Nigeria

“…The prevalence of IgG anti-T. gondii antibodies in this study were 41.3% corroborated with 42.4% and 44.10% reported in Port Harcourt, Nigeria 24 and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) 14 , but was higher than 30.7% reported in Tanzania 30 . Also, the result was lower than 55.9% 32 and 92.5% 16 documented both in Ghana and in Ethiopia 68% 33 and 72.7% in Cameroon 6 among women of childbearing age. The seroprevalence variations of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies among pregnant women could be attributed to climatic conditions such as rainfall, temperature, soil type, dry climate, altitude and other factors like rearing of cats, educational level, hygienic practices and feeding habits 31,34,35 .…”

Frequency of Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella, and Cytomegalovirus Antibodies in Pregnant Women in Yazd Province, Iran

“…Along this line, published data indicated varying prevalence rates in various geographical areas around the world, including France (51%) (32), Poland (43.7%) (29), Germany (20%-77%) (30), Norway (9.3%) (31), China (less than 10%) (33), the United States (22.5%) (34), Turkey (85%) (35,36), and Spain (18.8%) (37). These rates were 45%, 51.8%/26.9%, 38.7%, 71.6%, 55.95%, 51.5%, 39.6%, and 14%-25.7% in other geographical areas, such as India (8), Iran ( 38)/(39), Pakistan (40), Guatemala (41), Ghana (42), Sub-Himalayan Region (43), Western Romania (44), and Sweden (45), respectively. These differences in prevalence proportions could be due to the variations in subtropical environments, the education of physicians, polluted water supplies, food-related factors (inadequate culinary practices or malnutrition), a lack of hygienic measures, and the occurrence of larrikin cats spreading the parasite (46).…”