Toxoplasma antibody prevalence in Nepalese pregnant women and women with bad obstetric history

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 1998 Dec;29(4):739-43.

Abstract

Sera from randomly selected 345 pregnant Nepalese women aged 16-36 years and 13 women with bad obstetric history (BOH) were tested for the presence of Toxoplasma antibodies using microlatex agglutination (MLA) and ELISA methods. The overall prevalence was 55.4% (191/345). Prevalence was slightly higher (59.0%) in older age-group (27-36 years) compared with younger age-group (16-26 years) (52.2%). No significant difference in antibody prevalence in women belonging to two different ethnic-groups (Tibeto-Burmans 57.8%, Indo-Aryans 52.7%) was observed (p>0.05). MLA antibody titer ranged from 1:16 to 1:2,048. Over three-fourth of the women showed either high (1:510 or over) or low (1:16 or 1:32) antibody titer. Three percent (6/191) of MLA antibody positive subjects had Toxoplasma IgM antibodies by IgM-ELISA. All six IgM antibody positive pregnant women had MLA antibody titer of over 1:510. Of the total 13 women with BOH, 5 (38.5%) had Toxoplasma antibodies of which 2 (40.0%) were positive for Toxoplasma-IgM antibodies.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Distribution
  • Antibodies, Protozoan / blood*
  • Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Nepal / epidemiology
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic* / immunology
  • Reproductive History*
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Toxoplasmosis / epidemiology*
  • Toxoplasmosis / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Protozoan