Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii among blood donors in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Asymptomatic Toxoplasma gondii transmitted from blood donors to receiving patients has become a concern. Numerous articles have been published on the epidemiology of T. gondii in blood donors in Iran and a systematic review of the results shows quite different findings, hence this study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in Iranian blood donors using meta-analysis.

Methods: We searched for epidemiological studies that were published until July 2016 in eight English databases including: Scopus, PubMed, Ovid, Science Direct, Cochrane, Web of Science, Springer, Wiley Online Library, and four Iranian databases: Magiran, Iranmedex, SID and Medlib as well as Google Scholar. To estimate pooled estimator, regarding high heterogeneity and significance of I² index, Random effects model was used. Data analysis was conducted using Review Manager Ver5.3.5 and P<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Among 10 studies with a sample size of 4538 Iranian blood donors, the seroprevalence of T. gondii was calculated to be 34.4% (CI95%: 24.9-43.9). The rate in males and females was 33.36% (CI95%: 19.92-46.81) and 37.63% (CI95%: 20.81-54.45), respectively. The seroprevalence of IgM and IgG antibodies among blood donors were 2.74% (CI95%: 0.55-4.92) and 31.84% (CI95%: 20.61-43.08), respectively. The seroprevalence of T. gondii was significantly associated regarding blood group (P=0.04), but this relation was not significant with blood transfusion (P=0.62).

Conclusion: The results of this review indicate a high seroprevalence of T. gondii (about one-third) in Iranian blood donors and emphasizes the importance of screening the seroprevalence of T. gondii of donated blood in Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization.

Keywords: Blood donors; Iran; Meta-analysis; Systematic review; Toxoplasma gondii.