1. Toxoplasmosis in Nomadic Communities: A Seroepidemiological Study in Southwestern Iran.
- Author
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Arefkhah N, Sarkari B, Rozrokh S, Rezaei Z, and Moshfe A
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Distribution, Antibodies, Protozoan blood, Child, Child, Preschool, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Immunoglobulin G blood, Immunoglobulin M blood, Infant, Iran epidemiology, Iran ethnology, Male, Middle Aged, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Toxoplasma immunology, Toxoplasmosis blood, Young Adult, Toxoplasmosis epidemiology, Transients and Migrants statistics & numerical data
- Abstract
Background: Toxoplasma gondii is the agent of a zoonotic protozoan infection with worldwide distribution. The rates of infection in different areas are depending on climatic conditions and also social and cultural habits of the people. This cross-sectional study aimed to find out the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in nomadic people in Boyer-Ahmad County, in the southwest of Iran., Methods: Blood samples (5 mL) were collected from 1005 individuals of nomadic tribes of Boyer-Ahmad County in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province in 2016. A predesigned questionnaire, containing basic epidemiological information was filled out for each subject during the sampling. Sera were evaluated for anti-T. gondii antibodies (both IgG and IgM), using a commercial ELISA kit. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS, using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test., Results: Out of the 1005 studied subjects, 227 (22.6%) were male and 778 (77.4%) were female. The mean age of participants was 41 years (SD: ±17). The most represented (24.4%) age class was 21-30 years and the least (1.9%) 1-10 years. Anti-T. gondii antibodies were detected in 174 (17.3%) of the cases. No statistically significant associations were found between seropositivity to T. gondii and area of residence, age, gender and educational levels of the participants., Conclusions: Findings of this study show that the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among the nomads of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province is alike to other communities in our country. Further study is required to elucidate the genotype of T. gondii in this community.
- Published
- 2020
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