Seroepidemiological Analysis of Toxoplasmosis in College Students

Overview

Journal J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis

Date 2015 Jan 15

PMID 25587248

Citations 6

Authors

Jaqueline Polizeli Rodrigues

Fernando Frei

Italmar Teodorico Navarro

Luciana Pereira Silva

Monica Yonashiro Marcelino

Heitor Franco de Andrade-Junior

Carolina Arruda de Faria

Marislene Santos

Joao Tadeu Ribeiro-Paes

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by an obligate intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, which affects warm-blooded animals including humans. Its prevalence rates usually vary in different regions of the planet.

Methods: In this study, an analysis of the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among Brazilian students was proposed by means of IgG specific antibodies detection. The presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was also evaluated in order to compare it with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and to assess the use of 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride chromogens.

Results: The IFAT method showed a seroprevalence of 22.3%. These results were similar to those obtained by ELISA (24.1%). The seroprevalence was directly estimated from the IgG avidity, which showed that in a sample of 112 students, three of them had acute infection, an incidence of 1.6% in the studied population.

Conclusion: In this study, the use of different chromogenic substrates in immunoenzymatic ELISA assays did not display different sensitivity in the detection of T. gondii-reagent serum. The extrapolation of results to this population must be carefully considered, since the investigation was conducted on a reduced sample. However, it allows us to emphasize the importance of careful and well prepared studies to identify risk factors for toxoplasmosis, to adopt preventive measures and to offer guidance to at-risk populations about the disease.

Citing Articles

Seroepidemiology of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women and detection of infection acquired during pregnancy in Cotonou, Benin.

Amagbegnon R, Dechavanne C, Dambrun M, Yehouenou U, Akonde N, Migot-Nabias F Parasite. 2023; 30:43.

PMID: 37855713 PMC: 10586240. DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2023040.

Prevalence and Predictors of Infection in Psychiatric Inpatients in Fars Province, Southern Iran.

Teimouri A, Jamal Nassrullah O, Hedayati P, Bahreini M, Alimi R, Mohtasebi S Front Psychiatry. 2022; 13:891603.

PMID: 35774089 PMC: 9237562. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.891603.

Modified ELISA for antibody avidity evaluation: The need for standardization.

Araujo Correa V, Rodrigues T, Portilho A, Trzewikoswki de Lima G, De Gaspari E Biomed J. 2021; 44(4):433-438.

PMID: 34493482 PMC: 8515003. DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2020.10.009.

Potential linkage between Toxoplasma gondii infection and physical education scores of college students.

Cai J, Sheng Z, Jin Y, Du Y, Yan X, Yao Y PLoS One. 2021; 16(3):e0241653.

PMID: 33657102 PMC: 7928503. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241653.

Saliva collection and detection of anti- T. gondii antibodies of low-income school-age children as a learning strategy on hygiene, prevention and transmission of toxoplasmosis.

Macre M, Meireles L, Sampaio B, de Andrade Junior H Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2019; 61:e48.

PMID: 31531626 PMC: 6746193. DOI: 10.1590/S1678-9946201961048.

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