Abstract
Infection with Toxoplasma gondii is very common in humans throughout the world, the intake of raw or undercooked meat with tissue cysts and fruits, vegetables and water contaminated with parasite oocysts being the main routes of infection. Here, we analyzed the seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies in pregnant females (age 13–44 years; n = 920) between April 2014 and December 2017 from Chascomús (Argentina), a city immersed in a rural area. Altogether 320 tested positive for immunoglobulin G antibodies, yielding an overall seroprevalence of 34.8% (CI 95%: 31.7–37.9). No association was observed between seropositivity and age. In addition, by using the QGIS 3.2.1 software we analyzed the geographical distribution of 769 (83.6%) pregnant females in two main areas of the city: Urban (n = 157) and Peri-urban (n = 612) with a seroprevalence of 26.8% (CI 95%: 19.8–33.7) and 36.4% (CI 95%: 32.6–40.3) respectively, and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.023). Furthermore, we assessed through a questionnaire survey, between April 2016 to December 2017, possible risk factors such as activity (urban and rural), home water supply, animal husbandry, presence of cats as pets, gardening and consumption of meat and its derivatives (pork, sheep meat and sausages) and their frequencies (consumption per week), not finding significant association with seropositivity. Significant differences was found when the seroprevalence was analyzed between the urban and peri-urban neighborhoods of the city of Chascomús. The higher seroprevalence in peri-urban neighborhoods could be due to an unfavorable socioeconomic situation and/or to undeveloped peri-urban environments, which is a risk factor that should be taken into account when planning the health care of pregnant females.
Highlights
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite which belongs to the Phylum Apicomplexa, with felines as the definitive hosts and all the warm-blooded animals, including humans, as intermediate (Jiang et al, 2018)
In order to estimate the seroprevalence of the T. gondii infection in a rural area, we investigated the levels of seroprevalence in pregnant women of Chascomús, a region of strong association with rural activity and given that there are important differences in the urban development within the city of Chascomús, we analyzed whether there was association with seroprevalence in less developed areas as was observed by others
Prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies and risk factors. In this period of study, 1182 individuals gave birth at the Hospital Municipal San Vicente de Paul; 86 individuals gave birth more than once in this period and from them we included the results of the last serology performed and 176 individuals did not have present serology data
Summary
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite which belongs to the Phylum Apicomplexa, with felines as the definitive hosts and all the warm-blooded animals, including humans, as intermediate (Jiang et al, 2018) This parasite is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic disease that infects one third of the human population and it is considered one of the most important infections produced by food (Khan and Khan, 2018) (Bojar and Szymanska, 2010). The seroprevalence of T. gondii is between 1 and 90% but these values vary according to the region, climatic differences, socioeconomic conditions, food and hygiene habits and the susceptibility of the host (Fallahi et al, 2018) (Dard et al, 2016) All these factors can explain why the prevalence is extremely variable between different countries and in different regions within the same country (Da Silva et al, 2015). A study conducted in Aracaju, Brazil, found higher levels of seroprevalence in women from peri-urban neighborhoods, in this case coinciding with an unfavorable economic situation (Inagaki et al, 2014)
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