Open AccessA decreasing trend in toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence among pregnant women in Romania�‑�results of a large scale study
Author(s) -
Sorin Motoi,
Dan Navolan,
Daniel Malița,
Ioana Ciohat,
Dragoş Nemescu,
Carmen Manciuc,
Florin Gorun,
Tatjana Vilibić-Čavlek,
Daniel Boda,
Marius Craina,
Amadeus Dobrescu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
experimental and therapeutic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1792-1015
pISSN - 1792-0981
DOI - 10.3892/etm.2020.9012
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , toxoplasma gondii , toxoplasmosis , pregnancy , transmission (telecommunications) , immunology , biology , obstetrics , antibody , medicine , demography , serology , genetics , electrical engineering , engineering , sociology
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic infection caused by the obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). T. gondii infection is a cause of congenital infection worldwide. Primary infection or the reactivation of latent infection during pregnancy may lead to fetal infection and to congenital toxoplasmosis syndrome. Seropositive pregnant women are generally protected from maternal-fetal transmission of T. gondii , although exceptions exist. The aim of our study was to analyze the dynamics of T. gondii seroprevalence during a 10-year period and to correlate it with age and demographic features of pregnant women. We tested 6,889 pregnant women in Timisoara, Romania, for IgG-anti- T. gondii antibodies, in two successive periods: i) 2008-2010 (group 1: 1,457 participants); and ii) 2015-2018 (group 2: 5,432 participants). For each participant, data on age and area of residence were collected. Our results showed that in the Western Region of Romania T. gondii seroprevalence in pregnant women declined from 43.79 to 38.81% in the last ten years. This trend was observed in both urban (40.53 vs. 34.85%) and rural areas (52.22 vs. 46.22%). A higher seroprevalence rate was found in rural than in urban areas. In addition, we found an increasing tendency of seroprevalence related to the age of pregnant women.