Rubella virus, Toxoplasma gondii and Treponema pallidum congenital
infections among full term delivered women in an urban area of
Tanzania: a call for improved antenatal care
Background: A significant proportion of newborns in the developing
countries are born with congenital anomalies. Objective: This study
investigated congenital infections due to Rubella virus, Toxoplasma
gondii, Treponema pallidum among presumed normal neonates from full
term pregnant women in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods: Sera from mothers
were tested for Treponema pallidum and Toxoplasma gondii infection
while newborns from mothers with acute infections were tested for T.
pallidum and T. gondii, and all newborns were tested for Rubella IgM
antibodies. Results: A total of 13/300 (4.3 %) mothers had T. pallidum
antibodies with 3 of them having acute infection. Two (0.7 %) of the
newborns from mothers with acute infection were confirmed to have
congenital syphilis. Regarding toxoplasmosis, 92/300 (30.7 %) mothers
were IgG seropositive and 7 had borderline positivity, with only 1/99
(1%) being IgM seropositive who delivered IgM seronegative neonate.
Only 1/300 (0.3 %) newborn had rubella IgM antibodies indicating
congenital rubella infection. Conclusion: Based on these results, it is
estimated that in Mwanza city in every 100,000 live births about 300
and 600 newborns have congenital rubella and syphilis infections,
respectively. Rubella virus and T. pallidum are likely to be among
common causes of congenital infections in developing countries. DOI:
https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.8 Cite as: Mirambo MM, Mshana SE,
Gro\u3b2 U. Rubella virus, Toxoplasma gondii and Treponema pallidum
congenital infections among full term delivered women in an urban area
of Tanzania: a call for improved antenatal care. Afri Health
Sci.2019;19(2): 1858-1865. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.