title: Toxoplasmosis in pregnant Sudanese women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to conduct a sero-epidemiological survey of toxoplasmosis in pregnant Sudanese women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and eighty-seven pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Khartoum and Omdurman, Maternity Hospitals, Sudan during the period June through to December 2000 were counselled for socio-demographic and obstetrical risk factors for toxoplasmosis, and screened for immunoglobin G (IgG) and IgM anti-toxoplasma antibodies using enzyme linked immunoassay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immunoglobin G anti-toxoplasma antibodies were positive (titre > 11 IU/ml) in 166/487 (34.1%), while 321/487(65.9%) were sero-negative. The sera of 35 women showed very high titres (>100 IU/ml), 5/35 (14.3%) were IgM-positive. The risk factors for IgG anti-toxoplasma seropositivity were; Southern ethnic origin and consumption of raw meat. Thirty (18.1%) out of 166 women who were IgG anti-toxoplasma seropositive gave history of intrauterine fetal death, while 31 (9.7%) out of 321 women who were sero-negative gave history of intrauterine fetal death, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over 65% Sudanese women screened for anti-toxoplasma IgG antibodies were sero-negative and they were at risk of sero-conversion during pregnancy. Southers and eating raw meat were the risk factors for toxoplasmosis in Sudanese pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Whipps Cross University Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elnahas
authors.forename: Abd S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Gerais
authors.forename: Mustafa I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Elbashir
authors.forename: Eltoum S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Eldien
authors.forename: Ishag
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Adam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008423:Maternal Age; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*