Iran and Serbia: Toxoplasma gondii

Diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women using automated chemiluminescence and quantitative real time PCR

Ehsan Ahmadpour, Elmira Zargami, Mahmoud Mahami-Oskouei, Adel Spotin, Abbas Shahbazi, Hossein Samadi Kafil, Saba Rajabi, Paria Alizadeh, Yagoob Azadi, Reza Bahaj, Firouz Shahrivar, Aleksandra Barac | Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Students Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. | 2019 | Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine | 12(1): 26-31 | doi: 10.4103/1995-7645.250341

 Toxoplasma gondii is a series public health concern, with more than 30% of the human population infected. It can cause severe complications in immunocompromised humans and fetuses. It is important to provide T. gondii screening tests for pregnant women for the confirmation of active and acute toxoplasmosis in order to provide sufficient anti-Toxoplasma treatment. Using a quantitative PCR reaction performed on the MIC Real-Time Cycler, the study established a valid T. gondii assay and identified 12.3% of 276 blood samples of pregnant women in Salmas, Iran, to be positive for acute T. gondii.