Department of Zoology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Department of Zoology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State, Nigeria.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Nov 1;112(11):486-491. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/try083.
Toxoplasma gondii is an ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite, which causes toxoplasmosis in animals and humans worldwide. However, little is known about T. gondii infection among preschool-aged children in Nigeria.
A cross-sectional study of 272 preschool children aged 2.25±1.09 years from four communities (Edunabon, Erin-Ijesha, Ijebu-jesa and Ile-Ife) in Osun State, Nigeria was conducted between January and July 2016, and the demographic data was obtained via questionnaires. Antibody titres against T. gondii of serum samples were assessed by ELISA.
The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was 6.9% (19/272). There was no significant difference in seroprevalence of T. gondii infection between boys (7.04%; 10/142) and girls (6.92%; 9/130; p=0.97). No associations were found between age, gender, parental educational level, occupation and religion, and T. gondii seropositivity. None showed statistical significance between the risk factors tested after multivariate adjustment; nevertheless, residing in Ijebu-jesa community was shown to be associated with an increased risk of infection (p=0.04).
This is the first report of T. gondii infection among preschool children in Nigeria. Prevalence studies such as this could help in the development of strategies for the future for disease prevention and control of T. gondii transmission.
刚地弓形虫是一种普遍存在的顶复门寄生虫，可在全世界的动物和人类中引起弓形体病。然而，在尼日利亚，人们对学前儿童的弓形虫感染知之甚少。
2016 年 1 月至 7 月，在尼日利亚奥孙州的四个社区（Edunabon、Erin-Ijesha、Ijebu-jesa 和 Ile-Ife）进行了一项横断面研究，共纳入 272 名年龄为 2.25±1.09 岁的学龄前儿童，通过问卷获得了人口统计学数据。通过 ELISA 评估血清样本中针对弓形虫的抗体滴度。
弓形虫感染的总血清阳性率为 6.9%（19/272）。男孩（7.04%；142 人中有 10 人）和女孩（6.92%；130 人中有 9 人）的弓形虫感染血清阳性率无显著差异（p=0.97）。年龄、性别、父母教育水平、职业和宗教与弓形虫血清阳性率之间没有关联。在多变量调整后，测试的危险因素之间没有发现关联；然而，居住在 Ijebu-jesa 社区与感染风险增加有关（p=0.04）。
这是尼日利亚首次报道学前儿童的弓形虫感染。此类流行率研究有助于制定未来的疾病预防和控制策略，以预防和控制弓形虫传播。
