Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in women population of Rafha city,Saudi Arabia

Toxoplasmosis,a disease caused by toxoplasma gondii parasite,is one of the most worldwide parasitic infections of warm-blooded animals including man. in most adults it does not cause serious illness,but it can cause serious health problems in infants,pregnant women and immune compromised patients. abortion is one of the most serious outcomes in pregnant women. in this cross-sectional study,a total of 162 women of child bearing age were included from rafha city of saudi arabia. demographic data was recorded. specific toxoplasma gondii igg and igm were detected in serum by elisa method. toxoplasma gondii dna was detected using pcr. most women were in the 20-29 years age group (48%),followed by 30-39 years (33%) and >40 years (14%). overall prevalence of toxoplasma gondii igg was seen in 12%,with significantly more in women with age more than 30 years as compared to those with age less than 30 years (19% vs 8%; p=0.038). the percentage of igg seroprevalence was higher in women who ever got pregnant as compared to those who were never pregnant (13% vs 5%). the percentage was also higher in women with direct contact to soil (14% vs 5%). only one sample was pcr positive. the results show that overall prevalence of toxoplasma gondii infection in young women of rafha city is low. copyright 2017 zoological society of pakistan.