Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in the Slovak Republic

  • Published:
Folia Microbiologica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One-thousand eight-hundreds forty-five individuals were examined for the presence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies, 31.3 % prevalence of them being found by using the complement fixation test as a screening method. The determined total antibodies were present mainly in low titers which show evidence of past or latent infection. The acute stage of toxoplasmosis by the detection of specific IgM and IgA was diagnosed. The occurrence of acute toxoplasmosis in the healthy population is very low and presents only at 0.3 %. There was no significant difference between genders (p = 0.232), but significant differences in the prevalence of toxoplasmosis depending on age (p < 0.001) and regions (p = 0.007) were found.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

CFT:

complement fixation test

Ig:

immunoglobulin

ELISA:

enzyme immunoassay

OR:

odds ratio

ESEN2:

European sero-epidemiology network

PI:

positivity index

References

  • Bénard A., Petersen E., Salamon R., Chêne G., Gilbert R., Salmi L.R. (for the European Toxo prevention study group EUROTOXO): Survey of European programs for the epidemiological surveillance of congenital toxoplasmosis. Euro Surveill.13, 257–263 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  • Čatár G.: To the Problem of Toxoplasmosis in Slovakia. (In Slovak) Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  • Čatár G., Červeň D., Jalili N.: Toxoplasma gondii. Bratisl.Lek.Listy99, 579–583 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubey J.P., Lindsay D.S., Speer D.A.: Structures of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites, bradyzoites, and sporozoites and biology and development of tissue cysts. Clin.Microbiol.Rev.11, 267–299 (1998).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hejlíček K., Literák I., Vostalová E., Křešnička J.: Antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women of the České Budějovice district. (In Czech) Epidemiol.Mikrobiol.Imunol.48, 102–105 (1999).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jalili N., Holková R., Kodym P., Danihelová E., Červeň D.: Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in blood donors. Slovak and Czech Parasitological Days, Collection of Abstracts, Tále (Slovakia) 1998.

  • Jenum P.A., Kapperud G., Stray-Pedersen B., Melby K.K., Eskild A., Eng J.: Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii immunoglobulin G antibodies among pregnant women in Norway. Epidemiol.Infect.120, 87–92 (1998).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kodym P., Malý M., Švandová E., Ležatková H., Bažpoutová M., Vičková J., Beneš C., Zástěra M.: Toxoplasma in the Czech Republic 1923–1999: first case to widespread outbreak, in E. Petersen, A. Pollak, I. Reiter-Owona: Recent trends in research on congenital toxoplasmosis. Internat.J.Parasitol.31, 115–144 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nemec R., Nečas S., Holková R., Čatár G., Porubenová A.: Toxoplasma antibody titers in workers with potentially increased risk of Toxoplasma. (In Slovak) Bratisl.Lek.Listy89, 779–783 (1988).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ondriska F., Čatár G., Vozárová G.: The significance of complement fixation test in clinical diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Bratisl.Lek.Listy104, 189–196 (2003).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pinon J.M., Dumon H., Chemla C., Franck J., Petersen E., Lebech M., Zufferey J., Bessieres M.H., Marty P., Holliman R., Johnson J., Luyasu V., Lecolier B., Guy E., Joynson D.H.M., Decoster A., Enders G., Pelloux H., Candolfi E.: Strategy for diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis: evaluation of methods comparing mothers and newborns and standard methods for postnatal detection of immunoglobulin G, M, and A antibodies. J.Clin.Microbiol.39, 2267–2271 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Studeničová C.: Prevalence of toxoplasmosis in risk groups of human population and its prevention. (In Slovak) Bull.Slovak Soc. Parasitol.10, 16–18 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  • Studeničová C., Benčaiová G., Holková R.: Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in healthy population from Slovakia. Eur.J.Intern.Med.17, 470–473 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Svobodová V., Literák I.: Prevalence of IgM and IgG antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in blood donors in the Czech Republic. Eur.J.Epidemiol.14, 803–805 (1998).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tenter A.M., Heckeroth A.R., Weiss L.M.: Toxoplasma gondii from animals to humans. Internat.J.Parasitol.30, 1217–1258 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zástěra M., Pokorný J., Jíra J., Valkoun A.: Supplement to the standard methods of laboratory diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. (In Czech) Acta Hyg.Epidemiol.Microbiol., Suppl. 3/87, 3–14 (1986).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Microbiology, Regional Authority of Public Health Banská Bystrica, 975 56, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

    J. Strhársky, C. Klement & F. Hrubá

Authors
  1. J. Strhársky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Klement
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. F. Hrubá
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Strhársky.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Strhársky, J., Klement, C. & Hrubá, F. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in the Slovak Republic. Folia Microbiol 54, 553–558 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-009-0081-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-009-0081-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation