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Background The majority of human infections with Toxoplasma produce no symptoms, but in congenitally infected children can cause devastating effects including eye blindness, brain damage, or miscarriage. Transmission to the fetus occurs predominantly in women who acquire their primary infection during gestation. Objective The study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii among pregnant women attending Antenatal Care (ANC) in different sites of Asmara, Eritrea, and to identify possible risk factors associated with Toxoplasma infection among pregnant women attending the antenatal center. Methods The study has followed a cross-sectional laboratory-based survey. The data were collected from 210 pregnant women in four health facilities. Voluntary sampling technique and a structured questionnaire were used to collect associate factors and socio-demographic information. Cobas e411 clinical chemistry Analyzers was used to test the blood serum for IgG and IgM antibodies. Epi-Info (V 7.0) was used for data entry and SPSS (V 20.0) was used for data analysis. Results From the 210 samples, 53.6% (112) samples were seropositive and 46.4% (97) samples were seronegative for toxoplasma specific IgG antibody. Furthermore, 2.9% (6) samples were seropositive and 97.1% (203) samples were seronegative for toxoplasma-specific IgM antibodies. Conclusion The seroprevalence was considerably high, 53.6% IgG antibody and 2.9% IgM antibody which requests attention, in order to introduce preventive control measures, screening tests, and health education. |
