Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection among pregnant women in Ilesha, southwestern, Nigeria

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by an intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The infection affects both humans and animals and is transmitted primarily through ingestion of contaminated food or water, consumption of undercooked meat containing tissue cyst, or exposure of oocyst shed by infected cats. This study was purposely conducted to assess the prevalence and associated risk factors of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women visiting selected health care facilities for ante-natal care in Ilesha, Osun State. Blood samples of two hundred and ninety-five consenting pregnant women ages between 16-50years were collected and screened for anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM and IgG antibodies using ELISA test between July and December 2022. Predisposing factors and socio-demographic information were assessed through administration of a structured questionnaire on each participant. The overall prevalence of toxoplasmosis among the 295 study participants was 44.75%, with 105 (35.60%) testing positive for Toxoplasma gondii-specific IgG antibodies and 28 (9.15%) positive for IgM antibodies. Seropositivity of toxoplasmosis increased significantly with increased age among the pregnant women(p>0.05). The highest seropositivity to Toxoplasma antibodies was observed among participants that were married (38.22%), Muslim (39.83%) civil servant (48.94%), had primary education (39.58%) and in third trimester (37.11%). In this study, consumption of rodents and bush meats, cat ownership and changing cat litters are identified by logistic regression analysis as a significant predictor to toxoplasmosis seropositivity. The observed high seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women especially in their third trimester, underscores the need for the public sensitization on transmission and preventive measures, implementation of routine antenatal screening and education of women of all age groups in order to reduce the risk of congenital toxoplasmosis.