title: Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in Korean pregnant women.
abstract: This study was performed in order to evaluate the sero-epidemiological status of toxoplasmosis in pregnant Korean women. Among 5,175 sera and 750 amniotic fluid samples obtained from pregnant women, 41 serum samples (0.79%) and 10 (1.33%) amniotic fluid samples tested positive for IgG antibodies by ELISA. Fifty one cases showing a score more than 0.25 on ELISA were tested for PCR reaction against the SAG1 gene. Only one case of the 51 ELISA positive cases exhibited a positive reaction on all tests. This case had a history of acute nephropyelitis during early pregnancy, but fortunately, had delivered a phenotypically healthy baby. In this study, the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women was found to be comparatively low, consistent with previous reports from Korea. However our trials, performed with a variety of diagnostic tools, were considered to be useful for the precise diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Ju
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jong-Chul
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Ho-Joon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Ho-Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Nam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan