{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T11:14:43Z","timestamp":1785150883328,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,23]],"date-time":"2022-02-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1645574400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia","award":["451-03-9\/2021-14\/200015"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["451-03-9\/2021-14\/200015"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Toxoplasmosis is a globally distributed parasitic zoonosis, affecting approximately one third of the human population. Epidemiological studies on toxoplasmosis conducted in Serbia so far have been focused on women of childbearing age, without a clear insight into the prevalence in the general population. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a representative sample of the healthy adult population consisting of 1095 blood donors of both genders to establish the prevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection. Data on the demographic and clinical characteristics of all study participants, as well as on their lifestyle habits, were collected by means of a questionnaire. The overall prevalence of infection was 20.5% (224\/1095) and the avidity of the specific IgG antibodies detected was high in a vast majority of the seropositive donors (98.2%). Interestingly, the remaining 1.8% of the specific IgG positive samples were of borderline avidity (4\/224), in complete absence of specific IgM. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that independent risk factors included age (from OR (95% CI) 1.9 (1.13\u20133.28) in the 30\u201339 age group, to 6.8 (3.27\u201314.24) in the age group of &gt;60 years), suburban living (OR (95% CI) 2.2 (1.43\u20133.34)) and contact with soil (OR (95% CI) 1.4 (1.01\u20131.94)). This first large-scale study on toxoplasmosis in the general population in Serbia shows the lowest prevalence ever reported in this country. Moreover, the novel perspective on risk factors provides an updated basis for future prevention programs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms10030492","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,23]],"date-time":"2022-02-23T22:54:02Z","timestamp":1645656842000},"page":"492","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Epidemiology of Toxoplasmosis in SERBIA: A Cross-Sectional Study on Blood Donors"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2087-1420","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Milena","family":"Stopi\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Group for Microbiology and Parasitology, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-Borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11129 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3291-6104","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tijana","family":"\u0160tajner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Group for Microbiology and Parasitology, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-Borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11129 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ljiljana","family":"Markovi\u0107-Deni\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0216-6392","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vladimir","family":"Nikoli\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iva","family":"Djilas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blood Transfusion Institute of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sne\u017eana Jovanovi\u0107","family":"Srzenti\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blood Transfusion Institute of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7521-8598","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olgica","family":"Djurkovi\u0107-Djakovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Group for Microbiology and Parasitology, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-Borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11129 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Branko","family":"Bobi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Group for Microbiology and Parasitology, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-Borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11129 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Dubey, J.P., and Beattie, C.P. (1988). Toxoplasmosis of Animals and Man, CRC Press. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"601","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcp\/56.5.601","article-title":"Fatal recurrent toxoplasmosis in a patient initially infected via a leukocyte transfusion","volume":"56","author":"Roth","year":"1971","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Pathol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.1182\/blood.V37.4.388.388","article-title":"Transmission of toxoplasmosis by leukocyte transfusion","volume":"37","author":"Siegel","year":"1971","journal-title":"Blood"},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"253","article-title":"Acquired toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis after platelet transfusions","volume":"21","author":"Nelson","year":"1989","journal-title":"Ann. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S30","DOI":"10.1093\/jpids\/piu077","article-title":"Congenital toxoplasmosis","volume":"3","author":"McAuley","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Pediatricic. Infect. Dis. Soc."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"\u0160tajner, T., Vuji\u0107, D., Srbljanovi\u0107, J., Bauman, N., Ze\u010devi\u0107, \u017d., Simi\u0107, M., and Djurkovi\u0107-Djakovi\u0107, O. (Clin. Microbiol. Infect., 2021). Risk of reactivated toxoplasmosis in haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: A prospective cohort study in a setting withholding prophylaxis, Clin. Microbiol. Infect., in press.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmi.2021.09.012"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1965","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(04)16412-X","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis","volume":"363","author":"Montoya","year":"2004","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1007\/s00508-011-0052-6","article-title":"Kinetics of Toxoplasma infection in the Balkans","volume":"123","author":"Klun","year":"2011","journal-title":"Wien. Klin. Wochenschr."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1385","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpara.2009.04.003","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis snapshots: Global status of Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence and implications for pregnancy and congenital toxoplasmosis","volume":"39","author":"Pappas","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"562","DOI":"10.1128\/jcm.11.6.562-568.1980","article-title":"Direct agglutination test for diagnosis of Toxoplasma infection: Method for increasing sensitivity and specificity","volume":"1","author":"Desmonts","year":"1980","journal-title":"J. Clin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19600","DOI":"10.2807\/ese.15.25.19600-en","article-title":"Toxosurv network and National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis. Congenital toxoplasmosis in France in 2007: First results from a national surveillance system","volume":"15","author":"Villena","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eurosurveillance"},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"32","article-title":"Prevention of prenatal toxoplasmosis by serological screening of pregnant women in Austria","volume":"84","author":"Pollak","year":"1992","journal-title":"Scand. J. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30317","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.33.30317","article-title":"Prevalence and incidence of toxoplasmosis: A retrospective analysis of mother-child examinations, Styria, Austria, 1995 to 2012","volume":"21","author":"Berghold","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eurosurveillance"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.2298\/SARH0304162B","article-title":"Identification of risk factors for infection with Toxoplasma gondii in Serbia as a basis of a programme for prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis","volume":"131","year":"2003","journal-title":"Srp. Arh. Celok. Lek."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"227","article-title":"Undercooked meat consumption remains the major risk factor for Toxoplasma infection in Serbia","volume":"49","author":"Klun","year":"2007","journal-title":"Parassitologia"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"\u0160ibali\u0107, D., and Radovi\u0107, M. (1969). Contribution la connaissance de la frequence de l\u2019infection de Toxoplasma gondii chez l\u2019homme dans la Serbia. GLAS CCLXXV. Acc. Serbe Sci. Arts Cl. Sci. Med., 22."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tmrv.2016.03.002","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis in Blood Donors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","volume":"30","author":"Majidiani","year":"2016","journal-title":"Transfus. Med. Rev."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"5","article-title":"Prevalence of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus in Croatia","volume":"30","author":"Begovac","year":"2010","journal-title":"Croat. J. Infect."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"807","DOI":"10.1089\/vbz.2016.2028","article-title":"First Report on Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Study in Blood Donors","volume":"16","author":"Guzijan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"9597276","article-title":"Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors for Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Healthy Blood Donors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Sonora, Mexico","volume":"2016","year":"2016","journal-title":"Biomed. Res. Int."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"728","article-title":"Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in healthy voluntary blood donors from Shijiazhuang area","volume":"24","author":"Yang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Chin. J. Schistosomiasis Control"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"50","article-title":"Toxoplasma seroprevalence in healthy voluntary blood donors from urban Karnataka","volume":"126","author":"Sundar","year":"2007","journal-title":"Indian. J. Med. Res."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"811","DOI":"10.1038\/bmt.2017.34","article-title":"Use of haploidentical stem cell transplantation continues to increase: The 2015 European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplant activity survey report","volume":"52","author":"Passweg","year":"2017","journal-title":"Bone Marrow Transpl."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"336","article-title":"Transfusion-transmissible infections among Serbian blood donors: Declining trends over the period 2005\u20132017","volume":"17","year":"2019","journal-title":"Blood Transfus."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1089","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-0691.2008.02091.x","article-title":"Prevention of toxoplasmosis in transplant patients","volume":"14","author":"Derouin","year":"2008","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Infect."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"358","DOI":"10.1099\/jmm.0.006668-0","article-title":"Comparative and evaluation of three commercial Toxoplasma-specific IgG antibody avidity tests and significance in different clinical settings","volume":"58","author":"Klun","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Med. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) (2021, January 03). Toxoplasma\u00a0gondii. Transfusion, Available online: https:\/\/www.aabb.org\/docs\/default-source\/default-document-library\/regulatory\/eid\/227s.pdf?sfvrsn=51e1708_2."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"605","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1007461225944","article-title":"Risk factors for Toxoplasma infection in a reproductive age female population in the area of Belgrade (Yugoslavia)","volume":"14","year":"1998","journal-title":"Eur. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1590\/S0037-86822005000200009","article-title":"Serological screening and toxoplasmosis exposure factors among pregnant women in South of Brazil","volume":"38","author":"Spalding","year":"2005","journal-title":"Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop."},{"key":"ref_30","first-page":"233","article-title":"Seroprevalence of acquired toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected and apparently healthy individuals in Jos, Nigeria","volume":"47","author":"Uneke","year":"2005","journal-title":"Parassitologia"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alvarado-Esquivel, C., Sifuentes-Alvarez, A., Narro-Duarte, S.G., Estrada-Mart\u00ednez, S., D\u00edaz-Garc\u00eda, J.H., Liesenfeld, O., Mart\u00ednez-Garc\u00eda, S.A., and Canales-Molina, A. (2006). Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women in a public hospital in northern Mexico. BMC Infect. Dis., 6.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2334-6-113"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"458","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1995.53.458","article-title":"Transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in Panama City, Panama: A five-year prospective cohort study of children, cats, rodents, birds, and soil","volume":"53","author":"Frenkel","year":"1995","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"793","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1999.60.793","article-title":"Risk factors for infection with Toxoplasma gondii for residents and workers on swine farms in Illinois","volume":"60","author":"Weigel","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"357","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/154.4.357","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii infection in the United States: Seroprevalence and risk factors","volume":"154","author":"Jones","year":"2001","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.321.7254.142","article-title":"Sources of Toxoplasma infection in pregnant women: European multicentre case-control study. European Research Network on Congenital Toxoplasmosis","volume":"321","author":"Cook","year":"2000","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1676","DOI":"10.2460\/javma.231.11.1676","article-title":"Detection of Toxoplasma gondii-like oocysts in cat feces and estimates of the environmental oocyst burden","volume":"231","author":"Dabritz","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"465","DOI":"10.1089\/vbz.2009.0153","article-title":"Seasonal variations in human Toxoplasma infection in Serbia","volume":"10","author":"Klun","year":"2010","journal-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.2298\/VETGL200720010K","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii in pork & pork products\u2014Too much on our plate?","volume":"75","author":"Klun","year":"2021","journal-title":"Vet. Glas"}],"container-title":["Microorganisms"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2607\/10\/3\/492\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T22:25:21Z","timestamp":1760135121000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2607\/10\/3\/492"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,23]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]}},"alternative-id":["microorganisms10030492"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/microorganisms10030492","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-2607"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-2607","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,23]]}}}