Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis; an opportunistic protozoan parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, still imposes a major health concern and a significant economic burden worldwide particularly in developing countries. Nevertheless, the epidemiological status of toxoplasmosis among Saudi female population remains largely unknown. Therefore, the present hospital-based retrospective study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection among reproductive-aged Saudi women residing in Jeddah region of Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted at three governmental hospitals in Jeddah region of Saudi Arabia; King Fahad, King Abdulaziz and East Jeddah hospitals, from January 2019 and March 2021, and included 2431 reproductive-aged Saudi women (15-49 years old) who were screened by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies. Among the 2431 studied women, 378 (15.5%) were seropositive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies, while 43 (1.8%) were seropositive for anti-T. gondii IgM, and 13 (0.53) were seropositive for both anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies. Moreover, the highest proportion of seropositive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies (4.77%) was detected in 30-34 years old women, while the highest proportion of seropositive for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies (0.69%) was in women with age of 25 to 29 years, and the highest proportion of co-seropositive for both anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies (0.21%) was in the 25-29 years old women. Taken together, the present findings identified the seroprevalence situation of toxoplasmosis among reproductive-aged women in some Saudi communities and raise the importance to increase the screening programs and implements to control toxoplasmosis in Saudi Arabia.
Key words: Toxoplasma gondii, Seroprevalence, reproductive-aged Saudi women.
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