Seroprevalence Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

OBJECTIVE: to establish the rate of toxoplasmosis soroprevalence in postpartum women, attended in two hospitals of the Public Health System (SUS) in Cuiabá, and its correlation with age, previous abortion and women's knowledge of the disease. METHODS: a cross-sectional study including 205 women with ages from 14 to 43 (mean 22.4) years old, attended in these hospitals for two months, in the first or second days postpartum. Each woman answered a short questionnaire and had peripheral blood sample collected. Blood samples were stored at 20°C until assay. The seroprevalence was determined by quantitative detection of specific IgG antibody against Toxoplasma gondii, using a microparticle enzyme immunoassay. All samples were assayed at the same time. RESULTS: The average number of pregnancies in the women included in this study was 2.2, and the majority of them was pregnant for the first time. The seroprevalence found was 70.7% (165 of 205 women). No statistical correlation was found between seroprevalence and age (p = 0.967) or previous abortion (p = 0.82). Most of the women in this study (78%) did not know about toxoplasmosis and no statistical correlation was found between this condition and seroprevalence (p = 0.49). CONCLUSION: the high seroprevalence found in the present study is in accordance with surveys previously reported in our country and other developing countries. Among the women included in this study, an expressive number (29.3%) is still under risk of contamination. The lack of statistical correlation between seroprevalence and women's age, lack of knowledge about the disease and report of previous abortion is in accordance with some previous studies and in disagreement with others.