Seroprevalencia y factores de riesgo de la infección por Toxoplasma gondii en mujeres embarazadas

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic zoonotic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, which currently affects almost a third of the world population, with the most pregnant being the most affected. As an objective, it was proposed to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women. The study was quantitative, descriptive, experimental, cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 372 pregnant women between the ages of 14 and 40, who attended a gynecological consultation at a public hospital in the El Oro Province, Ecuador. As a data collection instrument, once the informed consent was signed, a sociodemographic questionnaire was applied and a venous blood sample was collected without anticoagulant for the serological determination of IgM and IgG anti-T. gondii through capture immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA) (IgM) and indirect immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA) (IgG) Vircell Microbiologists®. Data were stored in Microsoft Excel and processed with the SPSS statistical package to find seroprevalence values, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) and Chi-square with p: <0.005. As a result, a seroprevalence of 20.16% (75/372) was found, where the most affected age group was 24 to 28 years (25.23%), 92% (69/72) presented IgG antibodies and 8% (6/72) IgM, a significant statistical association was found between marital status and the presence of antibodies against T. gondii (p: 0.0156), 20.51% had cats inside the house and 22.75% handled feces of the cats It is necessary to implement educational actions and strategies in the fight against toxoplasmosis in Ecuador.