Volume :
4
Issue :
3
Abstract :
Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common worldwide parasitic diseases caused by an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. It is commonly transmitted to humans by accidental ingestion of oocysts voided in cat feces or tissue cyst in meat. Congenital transmission may occur when an uninfected mother acquires primary infection during pregnancy. The acquired infection is usually asymptomatic, while congenital one may lead to abortion, stillbirth or severe abnormalities in the newborn. A total of 190 pregnant women were interviewed with questionnaire about known risk factors (age, residence and occupational status, raw vegetables and fruits intake, source of drinking of water, milk intake, frequency of meat intake, consumption of raw, undercooked meat or processed meat, frequency of eating in restaurant and fast food outlet, contact with cat and soil, history of pregnancy, abortion and blood transfusion). The collected sera were tested for detection of immunoglobulins (IgG&IgM) against T. gondii using Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA) with the VIDAS Toxo-competition kit (BioMérieux, France).A total of 70 (36.84%) out of 190 pregnant women sera were seropositive for Toxoplasma gondii specific IgG antibodies, while all examined women were seronegative for IgM. Seroprevalence of T. gondii IgG antibodies in respect to previously mentioned risk factors were statistically non-significant (P>0.05).