{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T05:54:51Z","timestamp":1790402091607,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,5]],"date-time":"2024-06-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717545600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT.<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p><jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic> is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite affecting all warm-blooded vertebrates, including humans. Infections in humans can lead to severe clinical manifestations in pregnant women and immunocompromised patients. The aim of the present study was to assess seroprevalence of <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> infection and to identify the associated risk factors among pregnant women from southern Algeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2021 to May 2022 among 1,345 pregnant women. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on risk factors associated with infection. Participants were screened for anti <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> IgG and IgM antibodies using the enzyme-linked fluorescent assay. The overall IgG and IgM seroprevalence was 13.6% and 0.89%, respectively. A significant association was found between seroprevalence of anti <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> IgG and history of spontaneous abortion (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.016). Moreover, an increasing trend of seroprevalence was detected in the autumnal season (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.030), and eating raw or undercooked meat was found to be significantly associated with anti\u2013<jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> IgM seropositivity (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.002). Multivariate analysis showed that women who had experienced spontaneous abortion, regularly ate undercooked meat, and used bottled water in summer were more likely to contract infection with <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic>. The majority (86.4%) of the studied pregnant women were serologically negative for toxoplasmosis and hence were susceptible to primary acute infection during pregnancy and possible fetal anomalies. Therefore, health education and awareness of the disease and its transmission to women, especially during pregnancy, is imperative.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.23-0187","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,30]],"date-time":"2024-04-30T15:33:16Z","timestamp":1714491196000},"page":"1137-1144","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Associated Risk Factors among Pregnant Women in Algeria"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"110","author":[{"given":"Soumia","family":"Sebaa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Exploration and Valorization of Steppic Ecosystems, Faculty SNV, University of Ziane Achour, Djelfa, Algeria;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jerzy M.","family":"Behnke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amina","family":"Labed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ecology and Environment, University Batna 2, Batna, Algeria;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marawan A.","family":"Abu-Madi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science, Biomedical Research Centre, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"b1","series-title":"Int J Parasitol","first-page":"1217","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii: From animals to humans","volume":"30","author":"Tenter","year":"2000"},{"key":"b2","series-title":"Trends Parasitol","first-page":"530","article-title":"The placenta: A main role in congenital toxoplasmosis","volume":"27","author":"Robert-Gangneux","year":"2011"},{"key":"b3","series-title":"Int J STD 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