Toxoplasmosis: Serious disease during pregnancy

: Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii that leads to abortion or hydrocephalus during pregnancy.One hundered and twenty two aborted women were selected for this study. Serum samples were collected form Al-Kadhmia


Introduction:
Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the protozoa Toxoplasma gondii ,a world wide parasite of human and animals (cats and birds) , and infect 30-60%of human papulation world wide [1].In the united states, 5-10% of young adults are serum positive for toxoplasma and this percentage rises to50% at 50 years of age [2].Toxoplasma in human infection occurs via ingestion of contaminated food (especially meat) [

Material and Methods:
This study was conducted on 172 women (age range 15-45 years),122 women had abortion .They were referred to al-Kadhmia and Kamal Al-Samari hospitals and laboratories around Baghdad, indicating the possibility of having toxoplasmosis by physician .Fifty healthy women were selected as control, 12 of the them were infected with Toxoplasma and have IgG antibodies ,so they were excluded from this study.

Results:
The results showed that 51 (41.8%) of the 122 aborted women have antibodies against T.gondii,and although the other 71(58.2%)women had abortion ,they were negative for toxoplasmosis (Table1) .Samples from 50 healthy -looking women were collected as controls and tested for IgG and IgM specific antibodies for Toxoplasma gondii ,and the results indicated that 12 women (24%) were positive to the presence of IgG while 38(76%) women were negative to the presence of IgG and IgM of Toxoplasma gondii in their serum( Table 1) Twenty five (59.5%) women were positive for presence of IgG antibodies (Table 2) , while 17 women (40.5%) had IgM antibodies (Table3), and 9(17.6%)women had both IgG and IgM antibodies(Table 4) .

Discussion:
Toxoplasmosis is a world wide prevalent disease [9], and in Iraq ,studies indicated this fact[3]In the present study, the fact of this disease was found by detecting antitoxoplasma antibodies .Antibodies was found in 41.8% in women with single or reapeted abortion .The percentage of women with past or chronic Toxoplasmosis was (59.5%) and those with acute toxoplasmosis was40.5%whilethose with both IgG and IgM was 17.6%.Similar results were obtained in Iraq, other studies were done in other countries like Egypt ,Saudia Arabia and in USA.Specific antibodies were reported in infected women in USA [10].thehigh prevalence in Iraq of this disease could be due to high number of risk factors and many sources of infection.The infection acquired during pregnancy may cause congenital toxoplasmosis [10,4],which is avery serious condition with lethal prognosis in about 10% of cases and high proportion of diabling squeal [11].

Antibodies
screening programmers aimed at the diagnosis of T.gondii infection among pregnant women have there for been introduced in several countries [12].The finding of Toxoplasma antibody in pregnant women dose not mean that she reqired treatment in the great majority of cases,8% to 40% or more of women will have this finding as aresult of previous infection.In few women the presence of antibodies reflects acute infection [13].The acual management of acute toxoplasmosis in pregnancy is based on early antibiotic treatment ,to halve transmission rate [14].The seroprevaence in pregnant women,on world wide scale,varies from 7-51.3% in women with abnormal pregnancies and abortions the seroprevaence varies from17.5-53.3%[15].High avidity IgG antibodies indicate arecent toxoplasma infection [16], that usually has been acquired more than four months before [17].The presence of IgG and IgM antibodies define serum samples as being from acutely infected individuals,while the absence of IgM antibodies define serum samples as being from chronically infected individuals.Routine testing for Toxoplasma infection is should be done for all women Especially during pregnancy, to treat infection women.And all pregnant should be provided with in formation about the presentation of Toxoplasmosis infection.[18].
The role of health education is an important factor in decrease the incidence of this infection [19].