Investigation of toxoplasma, cytomegalovirus and rubella seroprevalence in pregnant women admitted to our hospital

Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate serologically the positivity of toxoplasma, rubella and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in pregnant women who admitted to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic of a Training and Research Hospital, and to investigate the necessity of the screening for the current region. Methods: Serological results of pregnant women who were between 18 and 45 years old, at their first trimesters and admitted to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic of Kayseri Training and Research Hospital between January 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018 were evaluated retrospectively in terms of Toxoplasma gondii, CMV and rubella infections. Anti-toxoplasma IgM, anti-toxoplasma IgG, anti-CMV IgM, anti-CMV IgG, anti-rubella IgM and anti-rubella IgG results of the pregnant women were evaluated. The serum samples collected from the patients were centrifuged for 15 minutes at 10,000 rpm and analyzed by ELISA method. Results: The records of a total of 10,200 patients were accessed. We found in our study that anti-CMV IgM positivity was 0.2% and antiCMV IgG positivity was 98.2%, anti-toxoplasma IgM positivity was 1% and anti-toxoplasma IgG positivity was 28.9%, anti-rubella IgM positivity was 0.59% and anti-rubella IgG positivity was 97.3%. Conclusion: The results of our study are consistent with many seroprevalence studies carried out in Turkey. Considering the high seronegativity rates of toxoplasma found for our region, we recommend the investigation of the immune condition of pregnant woman in the first gestational visit in terms of toxoplasma, and providing necessary health training if the results are seronegative. It should be the primary purpose to make individuals immune before the reproductive period by maintaining vaccination programs for rubella infection which is an approach of higher priority than the gestational screening to prevent congenital rubella syndrome. Considering the high rate of CMV IgG seroprevalence in the pregnant women of our region, routine serological screening seems unnecessary.