Toxoplasma gondiiInfection in Pregnant Women: A Seroprevalence and Case-Control Study in Eastern China

Abstract

Very limited information is available concerning the epidemiology of T. gondii infection in pregnant women in eastern China. Therefore, a case-control study was conducted to estimate the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in this population group and to identify risk factors and possible routes of contamination. Serum samples were collected from 965 pregnant women and 965 age-matched nonpregnant control subjects in Qingdao and Weihai between October 2011 and July 2013. These were screened with enzyme linked immunoassays for the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and anti-Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. 147 (15.2%) pregnant women and 167 (17.3%) control subjects were positive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies, while 28 (2.9%) pregnant women and 37 (3.8%) controls were positive for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies (P = 0.256). There was no significant difference between pregnant women and nonpregnant controls with regard to the seroprevalence of either anti-T. gondii IgG or IgM antibodies. Multivariate analysis showed that T. gondii infection was associated with location, cats in home, contact with cats and dogs, and exposure to soil. The results indicated that the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in pregnant women is high compared to most other regions of China and other East Asian countries with similar climatic conditions.

Detection of acute and chronic toxoplasmosis amongst multi-transfused thalassemia patients in southwest of Iran

“…gondii in study population [35]. Consumption of raw/undercooked meat is one of the studied risk factors in our study that was not statistically significant (P=0.4 and P=0.5 in thalassemia patients and control individuals, respectively).…”

“…Consumption of raw/undercooked meat is one of the studied risk factors in our study that was not statistically significant (P=0.4 and P=0.5 in thalassemia patients and control individuals, respectively). In some studies it has been shown that consumption of raw meat is not correlated with toxoplasmosis [5,[35][36][37][38] while results of other investigations are in contrast [9,10]. Risk factors like gender, residence, age group, educational level, ethnicity and source of drinking water which have been detailed in Table 2, were not statistically significant in current study.…”

Seroepidemiological map of Toxoplasma gondii infection and associated risk factors in preconception period in China: A nationwide cross‐sectional study

“…In our study, the Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity was relatively low among Chinese women of reproductive age: 2.3% were IgG positive and 0.3% were IgM positive, whereas 0.04% were both IgG and IgM positive. Toxoplasma gondii IgG and IgM seropositivity among pregnant women in China has been previously reported to be 3.8% and 1.6%, respectively, in Jiangsu province and 15.2% and 2.9%, respectively, in Qingdao and Weihai cities . An IgG seropositivity rate of 21.6% has been reported in Dali among all age groups .…”

Biological HRPs in wastewater

“…For toxoplasmosis caused by the infection of Toxoplasma gondii, approximately 14% of the individuals in the United States are seropositive to it by the age of 40 years (Saheb, 2018). At the same time, the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection also has been found in some American countries (Cong et al, 2015).…”