Seroprevalence and potential risk factors of T. gondii infection in pregnant women attending antenatal care at Bonga Hospital, Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

The present result shows high seroprevalence of T.gondii infection in pregnant women. Public education on identified risk factors and screening of pregnant women during their antenatal care should be recommended.

Socio-demographic and Obstetric Variations of T. gondii and HIV-1 Co-infection among Pregnant Women in Cameroon

“…The risk of contracting Toxoplasma was 93%, 16%, and 37% less likely to occur in the age group >30 years, women who started ANC at second trimester and grand multigravidae women respectively, while the risk was 14% and 24% more likely to occur in women in a concubine relationship and women who had attain tertiary education respectively. The seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in this study was found to be lower than the 30-90% range reported in different countries [6,8,12] and was higher compared to the 5.9-18.5% range in other studies [4,27,28]. In Cameroon, previous studies have reported a range of 54.4-77.1% [5,10,29].…”

“…Though age was not a risk factor to the T. gondii infection, younger women <21 years were more infected compared to older women. This result contradicts studies by many researchers [4,6,28] that identify age group> 21 years as a risk factor. In addition, the result is similar to studies by Njunda et al [10] and Shimelis et al, [36] which state that seroprevalence of T. gondii does not depend on age.…”

“…In Cameroon, previous studies have reported a range of 54.4-77.1% [5,10,29]. The differences seen with other studies can be attributed to environmental or climatic conditions favoring the transmission and infectivity of T. gondii oocysts, diagnostic methods, living styles, standards of the people, sampled populations, cultural characteristics, personal hygienic practice, feeding habits and genetic background [6,10,30]. This decrease in prevalence can be as a result of the awareness that is been created from the result of previous studies.…”

“…Toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii is a neglected zoonotic disease and is asymptomatic [3,4]. Toxoplasmosis is prevalent worldwide whereby about one third to half of the global population is infected [5][6][7]. Human infections result from food borne transmission (consumption of water, raw or undercooked meat or unpasteurized milk contaminated with cyst), animal to human transmission (ingestion of oocysts through close contact with infected cats or cat's faeces), mother-to-child transmission (from an infected woman to her unborn child) and through blood transfusion and organ transplants [6][7][8].…”

“…Infection with T. gondii has severe consequences in immune compromised hosts such as pregnant women, HIV patients and patients receiving chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs [4,5,9]. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women showed significant variation between continents and countries and ranges from 9 -92.5% [6,8,9]. In Cameroon, the prevalence ranges from 48.5 -70% [5,10].…”