Laboudi Majda, Taghy Zoubida, Duieb Oussama, Peyron François, Sadak Abderrahim
Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Hygiene, 27 Avenue Ibn Batouta, BP: 769, Rabat, Agdal, Morocco.
Faculty of Science, University Mohamed V, Rabat, Morocco.
Trop Med Health. 2021 Mar 8;49(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s41182-021-00311-5.
Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by a protozoan parasite named Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii). Pregnant women are considered one of the risk groups. The objective of this retrospective study is to provide an updated estimate of the seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies among a group of Moroccan pregnant women monitored at the Parasitology Laboratory of the National Institute of Hygiene in Rabat in Morocco.
Serum samples were tested for the presence of specific anti-T. gondii immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Anti-Toxoplasma IgM- and IgG-positive cases were also evaluated with the anti-Toxoplasma IgG avidity test. All cases were evaluated according to the age, parity, and historical of abortion.
Among 677 pregnant women, 94.1% (637/677) were serologically screened for the first time and therefore had no knowledge of their serological status, and only 5.9% (40/677) were screened for the second or third time. The overall anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM seropositivity among the 637 pregnant women included in the study analysis was 43% (274/637) and 3.9% (25/637), respectively. The use of the IgG avidity test allowed excluding recent infection among 83% of cases with IgG and IgM positive sera. The mean age was 29.4 ± 6.3 years. The result of the bivariate analysis revealed that the age influenced significantly the seroprevalence rate, while the parity and the existence of previous spontaneous abortion did not have any significant statistical correlation with seropositivity to T. gondii.
This study shows that 43% of pregnant women were positive and 57% of them had no antibody against the T. gondii infection. However, the pregnancy follow-up and the counseling of pregnant women remain essential for the prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis.
弓形虫病是一种由名为刚地弓形虫（T.gondii）的原生动物寄生虫引起的传染病。孕妇被视为风险群体之一。这项回顾性研究的目的是提供一组在摩洛哥拉巴特国家卫生研究所寄生虫学实验室监测的摩洛哥孕妇中抗弓形虫抗体血清阳性率的最新估计值。
使用间接酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测血清样本中特异性抗弓形虫免疫球蛋白G（IgG）和免疫球蛋白M（IgM）抗体的存在。抗弓形虫IgM和IgG阳性病例也通过抗弓形虫IgG亲和力试验进行评估。所有病例均根据年龄、产次和流产史进行评估。
在677名孕妇中，94.1%（637/677）是首次进行血清学筛查，因此对自己的血清学状态不知情，只有5.9%（40/677）是第二次或第三次筛查。纳入研究分析的637名孕妇中，总体抗弓形虫IgG和IgM血清阳性率分别为43%（274/637）和3.9%（25/637）。IgG亲和力试验的使用使得83%的IgG和IgM阳性血清病例中排除了近期感染。平均年龄为29.4±6.3岁。双变量分析结果显示，年龄对血清阳性率有显著影响，而产次和既往自然流产的存在与弓形虫血清阳性率没有任何显著的统计学相关性。
这项研究表明，43%的孕妇呈阳性，其中57%没有抗弓形虫感染的抗体。然而，孕期随访和孕妇咨询对于预防先天性弓形虫病仍然至关重要。
