Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Toxoplasma gondii is a globally found intracellular parasite that infected a large proportion of the world population, it remained asymptomatic in immunocompetent patients but the acquisition of the infection during pregnancy can lead to abortions and other congenital defects. The present study aimed to find the seroprevalence of T. gondii among suspected women who visited local hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Sera of 425 suspected women were screened by latex agglutination test (LAT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure the IgG and IgM antibodies level. Univariate analysis and odds ratios were calculated to determine the strength of association. The overall T. gondii infection was 60% with LAT, 52% IgG, and 56.26% with IgM ELISA. The seroprevalence was 7.2%-15% among the five study districts of KP province. The toxoplasmosis was found significantly (p<0.001) higher in 34.7% to 44.2% of pregnant women as compared to non-pregnant. The high prevalence of infection was recorded among women belonging to the 20-30 years and 31-40 years age group (16.78%-36.45), 1st and 3rd trimesters (33.2%-40.3%), and housewives (28.8%-37.4%). The mean of IgG and IgM antibodies titer was observed higher than >1.3 in pregnant women and in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. The present study concluded a higher prevalence of T. gondii infection in women of childbearing age in KP, Pakistan, and requires preventive measures to reduce the abortion risks and congenital abnormalities in fetus.