Investigating Risk Factors and Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma Gondii Antibodies in Patients Referred to the Central Laboratory of Ilam City, Iran

Abstract

Background and Aims: Toxoplasmosis is a protozoan infection caused by a forced intracellular parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, a branch of the apicomplexa found in humans and numerous species of animals. This study aimed to determine the titer of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in patients referred to the Central Laboratory of Ilam City and to define their effective factors in the prevalence of this disease using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
 Materials and Methods: The current study was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a random sampling of 116 patients' serum referred to the Central Laboratory of Ilam City. Samples were analyzed using ELISA for the presence of Immunoglobulin (Ig)M, IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii.
 Results: Twenty-three samples (19.8%) out of 116 serum samples were detected using anti-Toxoplasma antibodies. Nineteen samples out of these 23 (16.4%) samples were antibody IgG while the other 4 were IgM antibodies. The results of the Chi-square test showed a significant difference between IgG-positive titer and sex, level of education, place of residence, age, and marital status; however, no significant difference was found between these variables and positive IgM titer.
 Conclusion: As a large number of people are susceptible to acute toxoplasmosis infection and lack proper health information, it is necessary to adopt monitoring and control measures by health care officials to prevent the infection through the necessary training and health recommendations.