title: Seroepidemiological analysis of toxoplasmosis in college students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by an obligate intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, which affects warm-blooded animals including humans. Its prevalence rates usually vary in different regions of the planet.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, an analysis of the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among Brazilian students was proposed by means of IgG specific antibodies detection. The presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was also evaluated in order to compare it with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and to assess the use of 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride chromogens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The IFAT method showed a seroprevalence of 22.3%. These results were similar to those obtained by ELISA (24.1%). The seroprevalence was directly estimated from the IgG avidity, which showed that in a sample of 112 students, three of them had acute infection, an incidence of 1.6% in the studied population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the use of different chromogenic substrates in immunoenzymatic ELISA assays did not display different sensitivity in the detection of T. gondii-reagent serum. The extrapolation of results to this population must be carefully considered, since the investigation was conducted on a reduced sample. However, it allows us to emphasize the importance of careful and well prepared studies to identify risk factors for toxoplasmosis, to adopt preventive measures and to offer guidance to at-risk populations about the disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine of São Paulo, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Jaqueline Polizeli
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, (UNESP), Assis, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frei
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, Londrina State University, Londrina, Paraná State Brazil.
authors.forename: Italmar Teodorico
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, (UNESP), Assis, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana Pereira
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Biotechnology, University of São Paulo (USP)/Butantan Institute/Institute for Technological Research (IPT), São Paulo, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Monica Yonashiro
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Marcelino
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Medicine of São Paulo, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Heitor Franco
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: de Andrade-Junior
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina Arruda
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: de Faria
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, (UNESP), Assis, São Paulo State Brazil.
authors.forename: Marislene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, (UNESP), Assis, São Paulo State Brazil ; Laboratório de Genética e Terapia Celular (GenTe CeL), Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus de Assis, Av. Dom Antônio, 2100, Assis, SP CEP 19.806-900 Brazil.
authors.forename: João Tadeu
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ribeiro-Paes
keywords: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Epidemiology; Indirect fluorescent antibody test; Seroprevalence; Toxoplasma gondii; Toxoplasmosis