Alvarado-Esquivel Cosme, Campillo-Ruiz Federico, Liesenfeld Oliver
Parasit Vectors. 2013 Apr 20;6:113. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-113.
Migrant agricultural workers are a group of people living in poverty with poor housing, sanitary conditions and hygiene practices. Little is known about the epidemiology of infection with Toxoplasma gondii in migrant agricultural workers.
We investigated the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies in 173 migrant workers hired for seasonal agricultural work in Durango State in northern Mexico using enzyme-linked immunoassays.
Of the 173 migrant workers (mean age 34.82 ± 14.01 years), 50 (28.9%) had anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies and 36 (20.8%) had anti-Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. Seroprevalence was not influenced by gender, age, birth place, or educational level. In contrast, seroprevalence was significantly higher in workers residing in rural areas than those in urban or suburban areas. Migrant workers suffering from memory impairment, dizziness, or syncope had significantly higher seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies than those without such clinical features. Logistic regression analysis showed that T. gondii exposure was positively associated with consumption of unwashed raw vegetables (OR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.06-5.35; P = 0.03) and low frequency of eating out of home (OR = 3.87; 95% CI: 1.43-10.42; P = 0.007), and negatively associated with national trips (OR = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.13-0.65; P = 0.003) and consumption of raw milk (OR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.18-0.87; P = 0.02). Other behavioral characteristics including consumption of meat or untreated water were not associated with T. gondii infection.
This is the first report of T. gondii infection in internal migrant agricultural workers living in poverty. Results deserve further investigation of causal relations between clinical symptoms and infection, and may be useful for optimal planning of preventive measures.
流动农业工人是一群生活贫困、住房条件差、卫生状况和卫生习惯不良的人群。关于流动农业工人感染弓形虫的流行病学情况知之甚少。
我们采用酶联免疫分析法调查了墨西哥北部杜兰戈州173名受雇从事季节性农业工作的流动工人中抗弓形虫IgG和IgM抗体的存在情况。
在173名流动工人(平均年龄34.82±14.01岁)中,50人(28.9%)有抗弓形虫IgG抗体,36人(20.8%)有抗弓形虫IgM抗体。血清阳性率不受性别、年龄、出生地或教育程度的影响。相比之下,居住在农村地区的工人血清阳性率显著高于城市或郊区的工人。患有记忆障碍、头晕或晕厥的流动工人抗弓形虫IgG抗体血清阳性率显著高于无此类临床特征的工人。逻辑回归分析表明,弓形虫暴露与食用未清洗的生蔬菜(比值比=2.39;95%置信区间:1.06-5.35;P=0.03)和外出就餐频率低(比值比=3.87;95%置信区间:1.43-10.42;P=0.007)呈正相关,与国内旅行(比值比=0.30;95%置信区间:0.13-0.65;P=0.003)和饮用生牛奶(比值比=0.40;95%置信区间:0.18-0.87;P=0.02)呈负相关。其他行为特征,包括食用肉类或未经处理的水,与弓形虫感染无关。
这是关于生活贫困的国内流动农业工人感染弓形虫的首次报告。结果值得进一步研究临床症状与感染之间的因果关系,可能有助于优化预防措施的规划。