Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Drivers Involved in Road Traffic Accidents in Baghdad City

Abstract

In this study, a total of (200) people (170 men and 30 women), aged (20-60) years were enrolled during a period of 10 months in Baghdad city. The informed consent of the studied groups was first taken and the blood alcohol levels after accidents showed negative results. The control group consisted of 100 individuals (60 men and 40 women), residents of the same region and in the same age group with no clinical signs and symptoms of toxoplasmosis. The commercial IgG and IgM ELISA kits were used to examine the collected serum samples. The serological test results of the studied group (SG) showed that 92(21.90%) were IgG positive, 75(17.85%) were IgM positive when compared with the control group (CG) who showed 11(2.61%) IgG positive and 33(7.857%) IgM positive. We can conclude that there is a high traffic accident risk to the drivers because of the high seroprevalence of latent toxoplasmosis. Prospective studies are still recommended and latent toxoplasmosis of the car drivers should be considered while strategies are being designed to prevent traffic road accidents in Baghdad.