Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women in Aguascalientes City, Mexico: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: We determined the seroprevalence and correlates of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women in Aguascalientes City, Mexico. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Pregnant women were enrolled in the central Mexican city of Aguascalientes. PARTICIPANTS: We studied 338 pregnant women who attended prenatal care in 3 public health centres. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Women were examined for IgG/IgM antibodies to T. gondii by using commercially available enzyme immunoassays, and an avidity test. Multiple analyses were used to determine the association of T. gondii seropositivity with the characteristics of the pregnant women. RESULTS: Of the 338 pregnant women studied, 21 (6.2%) had IgG antibodies to T. gondii, and 1 (4.8%) of them was also positive for IgM antibodies to T. gondii. Avidity of IgG antibodies to T. gondii was high in the IgM-positive sample. Logistic regression analysis of sociodemographic, behavioural and housing variables showed that T. gondii seropositivity was associated with white ethnicity (OR=149.4; 95% CI 10.8 to 2054.1; p<0.01), not washing hands before eating (OR=6.41; 95% CI 1.73 to 23.6; p=0.005) and use of latrine (OR=37.6; 95% CI 4.63 to 306.31; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate that pregnant women in Aguascalientes City have a low seroprevalence of T. gondii infection. However, this low prevalence indicates that most pregnant women are at risk for a primary infection. Factors associated with T. gondii exposure found in this study, including food hygiene, may be useful to determine preventive measures against T. gondii infection and its sequelae.