Investigation of toxoplasmosis, rubella and cytomegalovirus seroprevalence in women of childbearing age

Abstract

Introduction/Aim: Congenital infections are an important cause of stillbirth and perinatal morbidity. It is important to know the regional seropositivity rates when making the decision to conduct antenatal screening tests. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to investigate the seropositivity of toxoplasma, rubella, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) in women of childbearing age. Material and Methods: During the period of January–2017 and January–2018, Toxoplasma, Rubella, and CMV antibodies in Yozgat City Hospital microbiology laboratory were retrospectively screened. Women between 15 and 47 years of age were included in the study. Of them, for 2447 women, the results of toxoplasmosis, for 2612 women of rubella and for 873 women of CMV serology and their age were recorded in SPSS 15.0 statistical package program. Findings/Results: In our study, Toxoplasma IgM 0%, Toxoplasma IgG 27%, Rubella IgM 1.3%, Rubella IgG 92%, CMV IgM 1.1%, CMV IgG 99% were found to be positive. The mean age of the Toxoplasma IgG positive group was 30 ± 5.9, while it was 27.7 ± 5.6 in the IgG negative group and this difference was statistically significant (p: 0.00). Conclusion: We think that prenatal screening for Toxoplasma, training of seronegative individuals and the treatment planning in case of acute infection are important. It is recommended that screening for Rubella and vaccination of seronegative women be given before or after pregnancy. However, due to high CMV seropositivity it may be appropriate to screen only women at a risk for transmission and to provide training in congenital CMV infection and prevention measures.