Detection of Toxoplasma gondii B1 Gene and IgM in IgG Seropositive Pregnant Women.

BACKGROUND: The onset of acute toxoplasmosis in pregnant women may pose a risk to their growing fetuses. The timely diagnosis of infection in managing the disease and preventing its harmful consequences on the fetus is very important. Therefore, the study was conducted to identify acute toxoplasmosis in the pregnant women by detecting the specific IgM antibody and Toxoplasma gondii B1 gene. METHODS: A total of 653 serum samples of women who attended to Fatemieh Hospital of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences were tested for IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii by enzyme-linked immunosorbent as-say (ELISA). The IgG positive specimens were further examined for IgM by ELISA and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for B1 gene. In the second phase, change in IgG titers was evaluated on 47 IgG positive samples after two weeks. RESULTS: ELISA data showed that 167 out of 653 and 2 out of 167 samples were positive for IgG (25.6%) and IgM (1.2%), respectively. However, PCR detection showed that 36 cases (21.6%) were positive for the B1 gene. Seven out of 47 IgG positive samples showed an increase in the antibody titer and positive for the B1 gene. The most cases of IgG positives and the B1 gene samples were associated with the third trimester of pregnancy with 49.7% and 14%, respectively, and the most common abundance of the B1 gene was 14.4% in the age group of 26 - 35. The most commonly reported clinical symptoms in the B1 gene-positive women were nausea 15 (41.7%), cough 13 (36.1%), headache 12 (33.3%), and vomiting 11 (30.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Using PCR and the B1 gene in serum samples of pregnant women to detect acute toxoplasmosis is a more appropriate and accurate method than IgM antibody.

Prevalence of zoonotic intestinal parasites in household and stray dogs in rural areas of Hamadan, Western Iran.

Zoonotic parasitic infections are a major global public and veterinary health problem and widespread among dogs. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasites in stray and household dogs in the rural areas of Hamadan district. During 2012, 1,500 fresh fecal samples from 243 household and 1,257 stray dogs were examined by using direct wet mount, simple zinc sulfate flotation, and Lugol's solution staining. Of 1,500 dogs, 20.4% were positive for intestinal parasites. Helminthes eggs were more frequently found in fecal samples than protozoan cysts or trophozoites (15.9% vs. 4.5%, respectively). Toxocara canis was the most frequently detected parasite, with a prevalence of 6.3%, followed by Taenia/Echinococcus spp. (2.9%), Isospora spp. (2.7%), and Toxascaris leonina (2.6%). Helminthes and protozoa were significantly more prevalent in household dogs than in stray dogs (P<0.001). There were significant differences in the prevalence of Isospora spp., T. canis and D. caninum among three age groups (P<0.05). The wide range of isolated parasites indicated that people residing in this area are at risk of exposure to these potentially hazardous zoonotic pathogens. Mass education of the general population is highly recommended to increase awareness of the potential for horizontal transmission of these parasitic infections from dogs to humans.