Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii detected by ELISA and PCR in abortive women in Iraq

摘要

Toxoplasmosis during pregnancy is a significant risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes in humans. One hundred women from Al Muthanna, Iraq who had a single or repeat abortion were tested. ELISA produced sensitivity of 75% and specificity 96.8% andRT-PCR produced similar results. By ELISA IgG incidence was 17.5 % and by RT-PCR 20%. Most early miscarriages occurred during the 1st trimester representing 50% of cases, 36.7% during the 2nd trimester and 13.3% during the 3rd trimester in stillbirth. We found 58(48.3%) with single miscarriage, and 62(51.7%) with 2 or 3 or more recurrent miscarriages. T. gondii detected by qtPCR was associated (P < 0.02) with miscarriages in the 1st trimester of pregnancy but by ELISA we found no significant differences between trimesters. We find a high prevalence for T. gondii in abortive women in Iraq probably due to multiple transmission modes inducing early and recurrent miscarriages.