Toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in Iranian women and risk factors of the disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: Tropical Medicine and Health
• Main Authors: Azadeh Mizani, Abbas Alipour, Mehdi Sharif, Shahabeddin Sarvi, Afsaneh Amouei, Azar Shokri, Mohammad-Taghi Rahimi, Seyed Abdollah Hosseini, Ahmad Daryani
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2017
• Subjects: Toxoplasmosis; Toxoplasma gondii; Pregnant women; Women; Girls; Seroprevalence; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-017-0048-7; https://doaj.org/article/e58a95be650642fda6b456af3d57873d

Abstract Background Toxoplasmosis is caused by an intracellular obligatory parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, and it has global distribution. The purposes of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to evaluate the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in Iranian pregnant women, and girls and women of childbearing age, and identify potentially preventable risk factors. Methods Between November 2014 and February 2017, nine electronic databases that reported data on the T. gondii seroprevalence in Iranian women were searched. Our search resulted in 83 reports published from 1994 to 2017. Results The results showed that the pooled estimation for the prevalence of T. gondii using a random-effect model was 43% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 38–48%) in pregnant women and 33% (95% CI = 23–43%) in girls and the childbearing age groups. There was a significant association between the T. gondii seroprevalence with age and the gestational age of conception in pregnant women and those who had contact with cats in both groups. Conclusions This is the first comprehensive systematic review of T. gondii infection seroprevalence in Iranian women, which showed a high prevalence of Toxoplasma infection. Around 57% of pregnant women and 67% of girls and the childbearing age groups were seronegative and thus were susceptible to infection and should be monitored.