Neha Singh 1 , Anant Dattatray Urhekar 2 , Bhaskar Das 3 , Arth Nath Dubey
BACKGROUND Context- Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a microscopic parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Although, the infection generally causes a mild symptomless illness in people with healthy immune systems, it is of risk during pregnancy as it can infect the growing foetus in utero. The aim of the study is to assess the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies for toxoplasmosis in women with normal pregnancy, pregnant women with one abortion and pregnant women with two or more abortions (BOH). The seropositivity was analysed according to number of abortions, age, parity and trimester of pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum samples were collected from pregnant women attending antenatal clinic with demographic data. Patients were divided into three groups- Normal pregnant women without any history of abortion (N), pregnant patients with one abortion (A1) and those with two or more abortions (A2) that is those with a Bad Obstetric History (BOH). 83 serum samples were subjected for determination of toxoplasma IgM antibodies and 81 for toxoplasma IgG antibodies. The study was carried out over a period of two years from November 2012 to October 2014. Settings and Design- Experimental and analytical study. RESULTS Toxoplasma IgM prevalence was 1.2% and that of IgG was 27.16%. The distribution showed increase of IgG and IgM with increase in the number of abortions. In normal group patients (N), IgG was mostly positive for patients with gestational age 2nd trimester (13-28 weeks). The distribution also showed that in this group IgG was positive for those in the age group of 20- 25 years. In group, A1 patients IgG was equally positive for those with gestational age 2nd trimester (13-28 weeks) and 3rd trimester (29-40 weeks). In this group, IgG was mostly positive for those in the age group of 20-25 years and 26-30 years, respectively. The distribution for group A2 patients showed an increase of IgG antibodies for those with gestational age 1st trimester (1-12 weeks). The patients of this group also showed increased IgG antibodies in the age group 20-25 years and 26- 30 years. CONCLUSION High prevalence of toxoplasma IgG antibodies indicates previous exposure or asymptomatic infection. There was only one case of IgM antibody and the patient belonged to group A2, which is highly suggestive of BOH due to toxoplasmosis. The prevalence of toxoplasma in the community could be because of non-vegetarian food habits of the patients or consumption of contaminated food and vegetables. Early detection of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women can reduce severity of the disease in the newborn.
