Abstract
A representative cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge about toxoplasmosis prevention, transmission routes, clinical features, and who can be infected among students from seven teaching areas of the State University of Maringá, Southern Brazil, using a self-administrated questionnaire. A total of 600 students participated in the study, 86 students did not answer or did not know about toxoplasmosis (14.3%), the other 514 (86.2%) had some information about toxoplasmosis and answered the questionnaires and most of them are unaware of the routes of transmission and prevention of this zoonosis. Less than 50% considered correct the options "do not feed cats with raw meat" (39.9%), "eat only well-cooked meats" (40.1%), and "ingest only filtered or boiled water" (42.6%). Also, misconceptions about prevention were identified when statements such as "doing fecal exams regularly" were considered correct by 20.0% of participants. Students' average of correct answers in the health and biological areas was statistically higher than in other areas. The agricultural sciences area had the worst performance. In conclusion, there is a critical need for effective educational programs to increase the population's awareness of toxoplasmosis since correct preventive practices are critical to control and reduce one disease's infection without definitive treatment.
Highlights
Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide foodborne zoonotic disease caused by a protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, that infects approximately one-third of the human world population (Dubey, 2016; Peyron et al, 2019)
In Central and South America, there are abundant non-archetypal T. gondii genotypes, with significant genetic variability (Bertranpetit et al, 2017; Pena et al, 2018). This genotypic diversity has been associated with different virulence patterns (Hamilton et al, 2019). It may explain the higher prevalence of severe ocular toxoplasmosis, which are frequent in individuals who became infected in the post-gestational period, as infant, adolescence or adult age, in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Colombia
A representative cross-sectional study was conducted with university students from the State University of Maringá (UEM), Paraná State, Southern Brazil, to assess the knowledge about some essential aspects of toxoplasmosis as transmission routes, disease manifestations, and preventive practices
Summary
Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide foodborne zoonotic disease caused by a protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, that infects approximately one-third of the human world population (Dubey, 2016; Peyron et al, 2019). T. gondii persists lifelong in the affected host organism (chronic phase) since it has no definitive treatment This infection is usually asymptomatic and evolves into the latent (chronic) form, characterized by the formation of cysts containing bradyzoites (slow replicating form), mainly in nervous and muscle tissue (Fallahi et al, 2018; Waldman et al, 2020). It can be severe when acquired during pregnancy because of the risk of congenital transmission, causing several damages to the fetus as mental retardation, brain calcification, hydrocephalus, and chorioretinitis (Maldonado et al, 2011; Peyron et al, 2019). It may explain the higher prevalence of severe ocular toxoplasmosis (chorioretinitis and uveitis), which are frequent in individuals who became infected in the post-gestational period, as infant, adolescence or adult age, in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, (de-la-Torre et al, 2009; Khan, 2006; Rudzinski et al, 2016, 2019)
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