TOXOPLASMA GONDII INFECTION IN VULNERABLE POPULATIONS OF ARGENTINIAN PREGNANT WOMEN: PREVALENCE, SEROCONVERSION RISK AND CONGENITA L TOXOPLASMOSIS INCIDENCE RATE

SILVIA CASSINERA; MARÍA INÉS, RODRÍGUEZ; NOELIA, GÓMEZ; MARÍA ALEJANDRA, DÍAZ; JAIME M ALTCHEH; FABIOLA PARUSSINI

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunion Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias 2019; 2019

SAIC, SAFE, SAP, SAB

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In people with healthy immune system, the infection is usually asymptomatic. However, primaryinfection in pregnant women can cause severe congenital toxoplasmosis in the developing fetus or newborn child. The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis is difficult to establish untilseroconversions during pregnancy are suspected. There are at present only few epidemiology studies about calculations of congenital toxoplasmosis incidence rates based on seroconversionrisk in Argentinian pregnant women. Moreover, there is no information about how changes in urban environment due to expanding poor urban areas can produce favorable conditions fortoxoplasmosis transmission. In this study, through a cross-sectional retrospective study we have assessed the age-dependent prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection among a representativecohort of pregnant women (n= 2000), who requested prenatal screening in Ingeniero Carlos Snopek Hospital between 2013 and 2016. This Hospital is the main health public service in Alto Comedero district, located in the southern area of San Salvador de Jujuy city. This suburban area is characterized by the presence of squatting households and low-income residents. Firstly, weobserved that prevalence distribution significantly increases with the age of patients. Secondly, we have checked if both variables age and prevalence could adjust to a linear regression by using binomial regression method with identity link. The test was significant (p