Prevalence and incidence of toxoplasmosis: a retrospective analysis of mother-child examinations, Styria, Austria, 1995 to 2012.
|
| Abstract |
In Austria, mandatory screening for the prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis stipulates a serological test for antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii as early as possible in pregnancy. In the case of a seronegative result, subsequent tests at intervals of 8 weeks are requested. We analysed serological data from Styria, an Austrian federal state, to determine the seroprevalence and incidence of Toxoplasma infections. The study included 353,599 tests from 103,316 women during 158,571 pregnancies from 1995 to 2012. The age-adjusted seroprevalence decreased from 43.3% in 1995 to 31.5% in 2012, with a yearly decline of 0.84% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0. 79 -0.88). The intergravid incidence showed an annual decrease of 4.2%. The average yearly incidence of intragravid and intergravid seroconversions was 0.52% (95% CI 0.45-0.61) and 0.72% (95% CI 0.67-0.77), respectively. If the difference between these rates (p < 0.001) can be explained by the effect of primary prevention such as avoiding raw meat and taking hygiene precautions when encountering cats or preparing vegetables, only ca two of seven (28%) infections were avoided by hygiene measures taken by pregnant women. Primary prevention may therefore have its limits.
|
|---|---|
| Authors | Christian Berghold, Sereina Annik Herzog, Heidelinde Jakse, Andrea Berghold |
| Journal | Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin (Euro Surveill) Vol. 21 Issue 33 (Aug 18 2016) ISSN: 1560-7917 [Electronic] Sweden |
| PMID | 27562876 (Publication Type: Journal Article) |
| Copyright | This article is copyright of The Authors, 2016. |
| Chemical References |
|
| Topics |
|
Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!