title: Seasonal variations in acute toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in Slovenia.
abstract: Between December 1999 and December 2004, 40 081 pregnant women were examined for toxoplasmosis with Toxo-IgG, Toxo-IgM enzyme immunoassay. Women with positive results were then retested with the Toxo-IgG avidity assay for recent toxoplasmosis. Recent acute toxoplasmosis in pregnant women was found to be significantly more frequent (p < 0.01) during winter than summer. The incidence of acute toxoplasmosis during winter-spring was also significantly more frequent (p < 0.025) than summer-autumn. This phenomenon should be taken into account when formulating preventive measures for toxoplasmosis, especially for pregnant women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. jernej.logar@mf.uni-lj.si
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Logar
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Soba
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Premru-Srsen
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Novak-Antolic
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012621:Seasons; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014122:Toxoplasma; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M