Toxoplasma gondii Infection: Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors among Primary School Children in the Capital Area of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Toxoplasma gondii Infection: Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors among Primary School Children in the Capital Area of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Jpn J Infect Dis. 2014;67(5):405-10 Authors: Fu CJ, Chuang TW, Lin HS, Wu CH, Liu YC, Langinlur MK, Lu MY, Hsiao WW, Fan CK Abstract Although Toxoplasma gondii infection is commonly prevalent in the tropical/subtropical regions, the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) remains unclear. A seroepidemiological survey was undertaken for investigating T. gondii infection in primary school children (PSC) using the latex agglutination (LA) test in the capital area of RMI. Information on demographic characteristics and environmental risk factors was collected via a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression model was applied for multivariate analysis. The overall infection rate of T. gondii was found to be 54.8%. Significant gender differences were found at different urbanization levels. PSC with LA titers of ≥1:1,024, indicating high responders, were found to be younger age group than others (8.7 years vs. 10.3 years, P = 0.003); moreover, infection rates among both age groups as well as high responders showed a decreasing trend with age. Multivariate analysis revealed that residing in urban rather than suburban settings was associated with increased risk of infection (P = 0.04). No associations were found between raw meat consumption, dri...
Source: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Jpn J Infect Dis Source Type: research