Abstract
Congenital toxoplasmosis is a known cause of morbidity and mortality in infants. We
investigated seroprevalence and incidence of primary toxoplasmosis in pregnant women,
its vertical transmission and incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis. In a hospital-based
2-year study, pregnant women from the antenatal clinic were screened for toxoplasmosis.
Women with primary toxoplasmosis were followed up until delivery and their babies
were screened for congenital toxoplasmosis. Another 5,000 randomly selected newborn
babies were screened for congenital toxoplasmosis and all Toxoplasma positive babies were followed up for 1 year. The study revealed 27% serological prevalence
of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women, 1.1% incidence of primary toxoplasmosis during
pregnancy, 43.2% rate of vertical transmission and 0.5% incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis.
Toxoplasmosis in pregnant women remains under-diagnosed and leads to a higher number
of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is a significant health problem
in the mother-child population in this region, and needs attention.
Keywords
Maternal toxoplasmosis - vertical transmission - congenital toxoplasmosis
