Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women in a public hospital in northern Mexico

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection in pregnant women represents a risk for congenital disease. There is scarce information about the epidemiology of T. gondii infection in pregnant women in Mexico. Therefore, we sought to determine the prevalence of T. gondii infection and associated socio-demographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics in a population of pregnant women of Durango City, Mexico. METHODS: Three hundred and forty three women seeking prenatal care in a public hospital of Durango City in Mexico were examined for T. gondii infection. All women were tested for anti-T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies by using IMx Toxo IgM and IMx Toxo IgG 2.0 kits (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA), respectively. Socio-demographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics from each participant were also obtained. RESULTS: Twenty one out of the 343 (6.1%) women had IgG anti-T. gondii antibodies. None of the 343 women had IgM anti-T. gondii antibodies. Multivariate analysis using logic regression showed that T. gondii infection was associated with living in a house with soil floor (adjusted OR = 7.16; 95% CI: 1.39–36.84), residing outside of Durango State (adjusted OR = 4.25; 95% CI: 1.72–10.49), and turkey meat consumption (adjusted OR = 3.85; 95% CI: 1.30–11.44). Other characteristics as cat contact, gardening, and food preferences did not show any association with T. gondii infection. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of T. gondii infection in pregnant women of Durango City is low as compared with those reported in other regions of Mexico and the majority of other countries. Poor housing conditions as soil floors, residing in other Mexican States, and turkey meat consumption might contribute to acquire T. gondii infection

Undiagnosed Phenylketonuria Can Exist Everywhere: Results From an International Survey

peer reviewedMany countries do not have a newborn screening (NBS) program, and immigrants from such countries are at risk for late diagnosis of phenylketonuria (PKU). In this international survey, 52 of 259 patients (20%) with late diagnosed PKU were immigrants, and 145 of the 259 (55%) were born before NBS or in a location without NBS. © 2021 The Author

Congenital toxoplasmosis: Specific IgG subclasses in mother/newborn pairs

Anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies of all IgG subclasses were studied in mother/newborn pairs. IgG1 in the mothers and IgG3 in the newborns were related to offspring clinical problems; IgG2 and IgG3 in the babies were markers of vertical transmission, and IgG4 in mothers or children were associated to clinical problems. IgG subclasses may be markers of congenital infection or clinical outcome. © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Short report: Neonatal screening pilot study of Toxoplasma gondii congenital infection in Mexico

Congenital toxoplasmosis is an obstetric problem in Mexico, but its actual frequency is unknown. Using a network for screening of non-infectious disorders, we performed a pilot study to determine the frequency of IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in 1,003 infants (53.1% male, mean ± SD age = 18.3 ± 13.0 days, birth weight = 3.116 ± 0.453 kg) in Mexico City from March to April 2003. Blood samples embedded in filter paper were assayed for IgM antibodies using a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and results were confirmed by Western blot. Two asymptomatic newborns, one of them premature, had IgM and IgG antibodies in a serum sample taken from both the infant and the mother and were clinically followed. Our data suggest a frequency of approximately two cases of congenital T. gondii infection per 1,000 newborns in Mexico City. Copyright © 2005 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene