Sero-prevalence and associated risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, northwest Ethiopia

Kefale Awoke; Endalkachew Nibret; Abaineh Munshea

doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2015.06.014

Sero-prevalence and associated risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, northwest Ethiopia

Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2015 Jul;8(7):549-54. doi: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2015.06.014. Epub 2015 Jul 9.

Authors

Kefale Awoke¹, Endalkachew Nibret², Abaineh Munshea¹

Affiliations

¹ Biology Department, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
² Biology Department, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Electronic address: endtg2002@yahoo.com.

PMID: 26276286
DOI: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2015.06.014

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and to assess the possible risk factors associated with the infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care center at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar town, northwest Ethiopia.

Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women. Three hundred eighty four serum samples were collected from November 2013 to January 2014. Data on socio-demographic and predisposing factors were collected from each study participant with simple random sampling technique. The serum samples were examined for anti-Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) antibodies using latex agglutination test.

Results: The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii among the pregnant women was 18.5%. All of T. gondii positive cases found to be positive only for IgG antibody. Significant association was observed between seroprevalence and presence of domestic cats [AOR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.66-4.90, P = 0.000], consumption of raw or undercooked meat [AOR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.15-2.43, P = 0.014] and history of abortion [AOR = 2.47, 95% CI: 1.40-4.34, P = 0.002]. No significant association was observed between seroprevalence and socio-demographic characters, gestational age, gravidity, consumption of raw vegetable, and blood transfusion.

Conclusions: The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women in Bahir Dar town was relatively high. Presence of domestic cats at home and consumption of raw or undercooked meat were identified as main risk factors for T. gondii infection. Therefore, health education towards avoiding eating raw or undercooked meat and avoiding contact with cats are recommended for prevention of miscarriage or defects during pregnancy.

Keywords: Bahir Dar; Ethiopia; Pregnant women; Seroprevalence; Toxoplasma gondii.