Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in pregnant women from a rural population of Buenos Aires province; Argentina

ANGEL SO; RIVERA M

Quinidio

Congreso; International Toxoplasma Congress XV; 2019

Toxoplasma meeting

Infection with Toxoplasma gondii isvery common in humans throughout the world, being the intake of raw orundercooked meat with tissue cysts and fruits, vegetables and watercontaminated with parasite oocysts the main routes of infection. Here, weanalyzed the seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies in pregnantwomen (age 13 - 44 years; n= 920) between April 2014 and December 2017 from Chascomús (Argentina), acity immersed in a rural area, being 320 IgG+ (HAI), with an overallseroprevalence of 34.8% (CI 95%: 31.7 ? 37.9). No association was observed with age. In addition, by using the QGIS3.2.1 software we analyzed the geographical distribution of 769 (83.6%)pregnant women in two main areas of the city: Urban (n= 157) and Peri-urban (n= 612) with aseroprevalence of 26.8% (CI 95%: 19.8 ? 33.7) and 36.4% (CI 95%: 32.6 ?40.3) respectively, being this difference statistically significant (p= 0.023).Furthermore, we assessed through aquestionnaire survey, between April 2016 to December 2017, possible riskfactors such as activity (urban and rural), home water supply, animal husbandry,presence of cats as pets, gardening and consumption of meat and its derivatives(pork, sheep and sausages) and their frequencies (consumption per week), not findingsignificant association with T. gondii infection. Significantdifferences were only found when the seroprevalence was analyzed between theurban and peri-urban neighborhoods of the city of Chascomúsand given that the peri-urban area is not yet fully populated, with severalempty lots and lack of some essential services. It is presumed that the higherseroprevalence could be due to an unfavorable socioeconomic situation and/or toundeveloped peri-urban environments, which became into a risk factor thatshould be taken into account for a greater follow-up of pregnant women.