investigation of the prevalence of toxoplasmosis as an important zoonotic disease in pregnant women referred to a hospital in rasht

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common infectious diseases in humans and animals. one of the ways of transmission to humans is vertically by transferring tachyzoites from mother to her fetus. congenital infection in the first trimester of pregnancy is very dangerous, associated with severe symptoms in the fetus, specially, if it mainly occurs when a pregnant woman is infected with parasites for the first time during pregnancy. due to the lack of information in this field in gilan province, in this study, the seroprevalence of toxoplasma infection in pregnant women in rasht and some epidemiological aspects related to this infection were investigated. in this cross-sectional study, the 102 blood samples of pregnant women who referred to a hospital in rasht were investigated for igg anti-t. gondii using a elisa kit and statistical analysis of data was analyzed using chi-square statistical test. the prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in rasht was determined to be 37.3% and except of contact with cat (p=0.045), there was no significant correlation between infection and variables such as age, place of residence, education, occupation, history of abortion, and gardening (p<0.05). this study shows that 64 (62.7 %) of pregnant women didn't have history of infection with toxoplasma and are susceptible to be at high risk for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.