<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>
            in Cats: Fecal Stages Identified as Coccidian Oocysts

“…However, infected fetuses and immunodeficient individuals may present with serious or even fatal clinical outcomes (Gross 1996, Vidigal et al 2002. Toxoplasmosis infection is transmitted (1) by the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat, which contains tissue cysts of the parasite; (2) through the accidental ingestion of oocysts eliminated in the feces of infected cats; and (3) transplacentary due to the primary gestational infection (Frenkel et al 1970, Hutchinson et al. 1971, Aspinall et al 2003, Bahia-Oliveira et al 2003.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of the presence of residual anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM in pregnant women and their respective family groups in Miracema, Northwest Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ribeiro

Mutis²,

Fernandes

2008

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in 832 pregnant women in Miracema, Rio de Janeiro, was determined and 75.1% (625) The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most frequent to infect human beings and is found in almost one-third of the world population (Dubey 2004). Patients are frequently asymptomatic and toxoplasmosis has no relevant repercussions on the patient. However, infected fetuses and immunodeficient individuals may present with serious or even fatal clinical outcomes (Gross 1996, Vidigal et al. 2002. Toxoplasmosis infection is transmitted (1) by the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat, which contains tissue cysts of the parasite; (2) through the accidental ingestion of oocysts eliminated in the feces of infected cats; and (3) transplacentary due to the primary gestational infection (Frenkel et al. 1970, Hutchinson et al. 1971, Aspinall et al. 2003, Bahia-Oliveira et al. 2003.The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is based mainly on serological tests that detect anti-T.gondii IgM and IgG antibodies (Camargo 1995, Pinard et al. 2003, that correspond to acute and chronic infections, respectively. Although IgM anti-T. gondii (IgMTg) tend to disappear, it can remain at low titers for a long period of time complicating the interpretation of the serological diagnosis of the acute phase in that case they are named residual IgM and correspond to the chronic phase of the disease (Bastien 2002, Remington et al. 2004. In order to differentiate the two phases, an important step in defining In the present report, the prevalence of residual IgM in pregnant women from Miracema, Northwest of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Table I) was investigated, as well as the correlation of these antibodies with IgG avidity, in the patients and in their family groups, in order to effectively establish the diagnosis of acute or chronic toxoplasmosis. The studied sample was chosen considering an estimated prevalence (IgGTg) of toxoplasmosis of 75% in order to identify the "n" value necessary to obtain enough seronegative individuals to ensure that 25% of the sample would be candidates for being IgMTg positive during pregnancy. Consequently, in order to determine the sample size, the population of women in the municipally (n = 13521), a prevalence of 25%, an estimated error of 3%, and a significance level of 5% were considered as parameters leading to a minimum sample of 756 pregnant women. Thus, from May 2003-December 2006, 832 pregnant women that visited the municipal public health system were selected and evaluated.Serological tests were performed in order to detect IgMTg and IgGTg antibodies using a commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assay Diesse® (ELISA) kit in all pregnant women. This technique has 100% and 99.6% specificity and sensitivity, respectively, for detecting IgMTg and has 100% for both analytical parameters for IgGTg. The patients that were IgMTg and IgGTg posi-

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“…However, Toxoplasma gondii, one of the most prevalent parasites worldwide, has never been detected in archaeological material. T. gondii infection is found on several vertebrate hosts (Frenkel et al 1970, Tenter et al 2000, and might be associated to the ancestors of the human species. Nothing is known in re- spect to the origin, distribution, and epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in ancient populations, since some of its pathologic alterations may be confused with some other diseases and are hard to be detected in mummified tissues.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA by polymerase chain reaction in experimentally desiccated tissues

Terra

Bello

Bastos

et al. 2004

Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz

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Toxoplasma gondii in Cats: Fecal Stages Identified as Coccidian Oocysts

Cited by 494 publications

References 8 publications

Western blot analysis of stray cat sera against Toxoplasma gondii and the diagnostic availability of monoclonal antibodies in sandwich-ELISA

Western blot analysis of stray cat sera against Toxoplasma gondii and the diagnostic availability of monoclonal antibodies in sandwich-ELISA

Association of the presence of residual anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM in pregnant women and their respective family groups in Miracema, Northwest Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA by polymerase chain reaction in experimentally desiccated tissues

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