Factors Associated with Toxoplasma gondii Seroprevalence in Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis, caused by the cosmopolitan protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, has particular implications during pregnancy due to the possible transmission of infection to the fetus. Very few studies have assessed seroprevalence and the risk factors for toxoplasmosis in healthy pregnant women. The aim of this study was to examine the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in healthy pregnant women and to identify the associated risk factors for toxoplasmosis. The cross-sectional study involved 300 healthy pregnant women who came to the Institute for Blood Transfusion in Belgrade between November 2018 and February 2019 for routine blood group and Rh factor testing before delivery, who were also tested using serological screening for the presence of specific antibodies. Positives were further examined using enzyme immunoassay. Of the total sera of participants analyzed, 38 were positive for specific IgG, resulting in a seroprevalence rate of 12.7% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 9.1–17.0%). All pregnant women presented negative anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies. The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that living in a house with a garden was independently associated with the risk of T. gondii infections, while eating chicken meat was connected with a lower risk compared to eating other types of meat with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.5 (95% CI 1.21–5.02) and an OR of 0.3 (95% CI 0.09–0.83), respectively. Although the prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies is relatively low, it is essential to maintain and adapt evidence-based preventive measures for toxoplasmosis continually.

Screening for TORCH Antibodies in Croatian Childbearing-Aged Women, 2014–2023

“…Our study found significantly higher toxoplasma seropositivity among residents of suburban and rural areas (27.4%) compared to urban areas (17.1%). Significantly higher seroprevalence in rural areas was also observed in a Romanian study (46 vs. 36%) [ 31 ], while it was of borderline significance in a Serbian study (22.5 vs. 11.5%) [ 22 ]. In Slovakia, women who lived in Bratislava’s surroundings had a considerably higher seropositivity rate (63.5%) than those who lived in Bratislava (36.6%) [ 39 ].…”

“…Comparing the overall T. gondii seropositivity, the detected seroprevalence rate in Croatia (20.2%) was similar to the seroprevalence in Italy (20.9%, Palermo, 2012–2022) [ 18 ], Spain (21%, Albacete, 2006) [ 19 ], Poland (22.3%, 2018–2019) [ 20 ] and northern Kosovo and Metohija (24.1%, 2011–2012) [ 21 ]. Lower seropositivity was found in Serbia (12.7%, Belgrade, 2018–2019) [ 22 ], the United Kingdom (9.1%, Kent, 1999–2001; 17.32%, London, 2006–2008) [ 23 , 24 ] and in Turkey (14%, Karabük, 2008) [ 25 ], while higher seropositivity was found in France (31.3%, 2016) [ 26 ], Germany (39.5%, 2006–2018) [ 20 ], and the Netherlands (40.5%, 1995–1996) [ 27 ].…”

The association betweenToxoplasma gondiiinfection and asthma in the United States: A cross-sectional survey analysis

“…We selected the minimum sufficient adjusted set of confounders using the modified disjunctive cause criterion, informed by evidence in the current literature and a directed acyclic graph (DAG) (Fig 2) (1,7,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). As cat ownership is not an important risk factor for T. gondii infection, and pet ownership information was not collected in the 2012-2014 NHANES, cat ownership was not included as a covariate (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). Because the NHANES categorizes subjects over the age of 80 years as "80+", we grouped the age variable into decades as follows: "6-9";…”