Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Toxoplasma gondii among Pregnant Women Attending Ante Natal Clinics in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii an obligate intracellular parasite. It results in severe complications in the foetus if the infection is acquired during pregnancy including spontaneous abortion, low birth weight, congenital malformations and intrauterine death. The study was Hospital based and cross-sectional and was carried out among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Zaria, Kaduna State. The samples were collected from Gambo Sawaba General Hospital Kofan Gayan, Ahmadu Bello University Medical Centre and Major Ibrahim Bello Abdullahi Memorial Hospital. A total of 182 blood samples were collected. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method was used to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics and factors associated with Toxoplasma infection. The study established an overall seroprevalence of 19.2%. There were no significant associations of T. gondii infection with all demographic and risk factors measured in this research (p>0.05), except ownership of cat (OR=0.23, 95%CI=0.1 – 0.5, P=0.00) and blood transfusion (OR=0.04, 95%CI=0.04 – 0.50, P=0.01)