Background: Toxoplasmosis can cause miscarriage or complications in the fetus. Diagnosis and treatment of this disease by anti-parasitic drugs especially in early pregnancy can help to prevent fetal infection and its complications. This study aimed to determine T. gondii infection in pregnant women, evaluate risk factors in the transmission of the disease and congenital toxoplasmosis. Methods: Overall, 360 sera of pregnant women from 5 cities in the Hormozgan Province in southern Iran with different climate were evaluated from 2015-2016 for T. gondii infection by using ELISA method and positive cases of IgM and IgG were tested again using Avidity IgG ELISA. All cases were evaluated according to climate, acute and chronic of toxoplasmosis, number of pregnancy and abortion, epidemiological factors and food habits. Results: Among 360 specimens T. gondii IgG + IgM antibodies were found positive in 0. 8% subjects and also 27% of samples had IgG seropositivity. A significant relationship was observed between age, sampling place, consumption of raw and half cooked meat, history of contact with cats, abortion history, number of children, and parity with IgG positive. In Avidity IgG ELISA test, 13 people with low avidity, 3 people with borderline avidity were reported. Conclusion: 72. 2% of the population had no antibody against the disease that this could be a warning to the people and requires education of preventive and prenatal care and routine screening of women at childbearing age.

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common parasitic diseases worldwide. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the world's population is latently infected. Infection generally occurs via oral the route and maternal transmission. Damage of the central nervous system is one of the most serious consequences of congenital toxoplasmosis. Moreover, recent investigations proposed that acute and sub-acute congenital toxoplasmosis as well as latent toxoplasmosis during pregnancy; play various roles in the etiology of different neuropsychiatric disorders in mothers and their offspring. This paper reviews new findings about the role of latent toxoplasmosis in the etiology of various neuropsychiatric disorders in mothers and their offspring.

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Birds are important intermediated hosts of Toxoplasma gondii. Consumption of chicken meat and its infected products is one of the main sources of human infection with T. gondii. However, little information is available about T. gondii infection in egg. In this study, the contamination of industrial and local eggs with Toxoplasma was investigated by PCR method targeting the RE gene in two tropical cities of Iran. Genotypes of T. gondii were determined by PCR‐RFLP method targeting the SAG3 gene. T. gondii DNA was detected in 11% (22/200) of the eggs. Genotyping of 14 T. gondii isolates revealed that all of the isolates were belonged to genotype III of T. gondii. Sequencing of the isolates by the SAG3 gene showed 95%–100% similarity with the T. gondii isolates in GenBank. Practical applications The findings of this study suggested that consumption of raw or undercooked eggs might play a role in human infection with Toxoplasma. Hence, consumption of adequately cooked eggs should be considered for prevention of human toxoplasmosis.

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Fertility desires and unmet need for family planning among HIV infected individuals in two HIV clinics with differing models of family planning service delivery. BMC Women's Health 2015; 15: 5. 20. Jhangri GS, Heys J, Alibhai A, et al. Unmet need for effective family planning in HIV-infected individuals: results from a survey in rural Uganda.

Background: Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is a common parasitic disease, affecting almost one-third of the world’s population. It is transmitted by ingestion of food or water contaminated with oocysts excreted by cats and the consumption of raw or undercooked meat from ruminants. This study aimed at molecular characterization of T. gondii in native cattle from West of Tehran, Iran. Methods: A total of 180 samples were collected from the cattle diaphragms (n=80) and heart muscles (n=100) from multiple slaughterhouses. The nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay was carried out to amplify the GRA6 gene of T. gondii. The PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymerase (PCR-RFLP) assay was also performed on positive samples, using Tru1I (MseI) restriction enzyme. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS (v.15.0). Results: T. gondii was found in 38 out of 180 (21.1%) samples. The infection rate in heart muscle samples (16.66%) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the diaphragm samples (4.44%). The PCR-RFLP pattern by MseI enzyme showed that 13 (7.22%) samples were genotype II, while 25 (13.88%) were genotype III, having statistically meaningful difference (p<0.05). No genotype I was found in the studied isolates. Conclusion: Based on our findings, the frequency of T. gondii was high in the study area. Therefore, educational programs need to be implemented in order to inform people about the risks of raw or undercooked meat consumption.

Background: Malaria is threatening more than half of Afghanistan population. Asymptomatic malaria is notable problem against malaria controlling strategies. In this study we evaluated the asymptomatic malaria status in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan in 2017. Methods: Overall, 296 finger blood samples were taken on DNA Banking Cards and microscopic slides from asymptomatic individuals in Jalalabad city. We used a novel post real time PCR high resolution melting analysis beside microscopy and semi-nested multiplex PCR to evaluate status of asymptomatic malaria in this city. Results: The prevalence of asymptomatic malaria in Jalalabad city was determined 1.7% (5/296), 7.43% (22/296) and 7.78% (26/296) by microscopy, Seminested multiplex PCR and qRT-PCR-HRM, respectively. Out of 26 positive cases were detected by qRT-PCR-HRM, 21, 1 and 4 cases were detected P. falciparum, P. vivax and mixed infection of P. falciparum and P. vivax, respectively. Conclusion: Our data indicating on existence of significant number of asymptomatic reservoirs that assists in prolonged endemicity of the disease. On the other hand, the molecular methods are better alternatives for microscopy especially for monitoring of asymptomatic cases of malaria.