Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among individuals with intellectual disability in Hormozgan Province, southern Iran

Abstract

Background People with mental defects are more likely to get the infection due to their low levels of health care and personal hygiene. The current study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma infection among individuals with intellectual disabilities in Hormozgan province, southern Iran. Methods The study population was 117 individuals with intellectual disabilities. Venous blood (3 mL) was taken from each subject. A commercial ELISA kit was used to determine anti‐Toxoplasma IgG antibodies. Results Of 117 recruited subjects, 55 (47.0%) were men and 62 (53.0%) were women. The mean age of participants was 27.6 (±12.31) years. Out of 117 studied subjects, 76 had severe and 41 had profound intellectual disabilities. Anti‐Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were detected in the sera of 35 out of 117 (29.9%) individuals. Seropositivity to toxoplasmosis was significantly higher in severe than in individuals with profound intellectual disabilities (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant association between Toxoplasma infection and age, sex and duration of residency in the rehabilitation centre. Conclusions The findings of this study indicate that the prevalence of Toxoplasma in people with intellectual disabilities is not much different from other groups of the community.