Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Toxoplasmosis among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Kaduna Metropolis and Environs

Toxoplasmosis due to infection by Toxoplasma gondii is estimated to affect one third of the global population. In pregnancy, T. gondii infection represents the risk to induce miscarriage and congenital transmission. This study was therefore conducted to determine the seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Kaduna south, Nigeria. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used and structured questionnaire to obtain information on risk factors associated with infection among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at Gwamna Awam General Hospital Kakuri and Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital Tudun Wada in Kaduna State. A total of One hundred and ninety two (192) blood samples (96 from each of the selected hospital) were collected from the pregnant women and screened using specific anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgM antibodies kit (IBL- International GMBH a Tecan Group Company). Result obtained from the 192 women serum analysed showed an overall seroprevalence of 31.3% using T. gondii specific IgM antibodies. Seropositivity was found to be statistically associated with age (P < 0.05) while Relative Risk (RR) analysis showed that women aged between 31-35 yrs. were found to have higher risk of contracting toxoplasmosis than all other age groups (RR 4.620). Chi-Square test showed that pregnancy stages, previous history of miscarriage and educational level of pregnant women were found to significantly influence prevalence of T. gondii infection (P < 0.05). Women with previous history of miscarriage was found to be more likely to be infected with toxoplasmosis than women with no history of miscarriage (RR= 1.278). Risk factor such as keeping cats was found to significantly influence Toxoplasma infection among the sampled women. The results of this study justifies the need to include laboratory testing for T. gondii infection during antenatal investigations and to educate women about the parasite in order to prevent maternal and subsequent congenital infections that might have been provoked in-utero.