Serological prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in pregnant women in Isfahan with emphasis on the role of cats in disease transmission

Subject Areas : Smal Animal Medicine

morteza razaghimanesh ^{1 *} , Fateme Homayoon ² , Aida Sharifian ³ , Melina Daghighian ⁴

1 - Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Shushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shushtar, Iran
2 - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shushtar Azad University , Shushtar , Iran
3 - Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Shushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shushtar, Iran
4 - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Student, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Shushtar Branch, Shushtar, Iran.

Received: 2025-04-24 Accepted : 2025-04-25 Published : 2025-05-08

Keywords: Seroepidemiology, Toxoplasmosis, pregnant women,

Abstract :

Toxoplasmosis is one of the important diseases that carries the risk of miscarriage in women . Therefore, this important disease requires special attention to control and prevent it .In order to study this disease, 127 blood samples from pregnant women admitted during the months of July to December 2011 were collected . The samples were examined to search for antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii using the indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) method at seven different dilutions .The required information, age, place of residence, blood type and Rh, history of abortion, number of pregnancies and contact with cats were collected through a questionnaire . T-test and chi- square tests were used to analyze the data. Anti-Toxoplasma antibody titer was higher than 1:20 in 67 samples and 47% of people with serum antibodies had a history of contact with cats . Obviously, education and awareness raising regarding the criteria for preventing this disease are of great importance.

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