SEROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII INFECTION AMONG WOMEN OF CHILD BEARING AGE

Authors

  • M. Saqib Lodhi
  • M. A slam Khan
  • Manzoor Ahmed

Abstract

ABSTRACTSera from 735 Women of Child-bearing age (15-45 years) were tested for the presence of IgGantibodies to toxoplasma gondii by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique, Intotal 263 sera (35.78%) were positive for Toxoplasma antibodies. There was gradual increase inprevalence with advancing age. Highly negative and statistically significant correlation was foundbetween toxoplasma infection and economic status (r = -0.947; p<0.02). Identical result wasrevealed between educational status and toxo infection (P<0.05). There was no statisticallysignificant difference between married and un married groups as far as prevalence of Toxoplasmaantibodies was concerned. prevalence of toxoplasma infection was much higher in women who hada cat as pet at home as compared to those who did not have a pet cat P<0.05. This epidemiologicalmodel indicates that Faecal-oral spread by oocysts is the main cause of dissemination of infectionin Pakistan.

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