Seroepidemiological study of toxoplasmosis in females for pre-marriage evaluation

Introduction: Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common zoonotic diseases that is prevalent all over the world. This infection usually has no sign in subjects with normal immune system. Prevalence of toxoplasma infection is varied in different parts of the world and it does depend on nutritional habits, being in touch with animals (cats) and geographic region. Materials and Methods: The present research is a cross sectional study. The study group consists of females who referred to “Tadayon Health Center” in Semnan (Iran) to perform their pre-marriage tests during the years of 2014-2015.  Simple sampling was used in this study. Demographic information was collected with standard questioner which was designed for this purpose. In this way, IgM and IgG serum levels were measured using ELISA method. Results: From 400 subjects, who visited the health center, only 12.5 % of women were IgG positive and 0.8 % were both IgM and IgG positive. Remarkably, there was no specific IgM and IgG against toxoplasma for 87.5 % of the study group. The final results showed significant correlation between the infection and age. The prevalence of infection is higher in the individuals who are older than 20 years. No correlation were seen between infection and living area, being in touch with cat and other house pets, eating barbecued or undone meat, drinking raw milk, using gloves while chopping the meat & the method of cleansing the vegetables. Conclusion: The low level of anti-toxoplasma IgG and IgM indicates that the evaluation of the immunity against toxoplasma, in pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy is important.