Seroprevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasmosis in HIV infected and non-infected individuals in Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia

AbstractBackgroundToxoplasmosis, a zoonotic disease distributed worldwide, is an infection caused by the ubiquitous obligatory intracellular coccidian protozoan organism,Toxoplasma gondii. It is a major public health concern because the disease is serious in terms of mortality or physical and /or psychological sequellae in patients with HIV disease. The aim of the study was to assess the seroprevalence ofToxoplasma gondiiIgG and IgM antibodies and associated risk factors in HIV infected and non-infected individuals attending Felege Hiwot referral hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted at Felege Hiwot referral hospital, Bahir Dar, Amhara National Regional State. Venous blood samples were collected from 103 HIV infected pre anti-retroviral therapy patients at Felege Hiwot referral hospital and 101 HIV negative apparently healthy voluntary blood donors at the blood bank. Serum samples were analyzed for anti-Toxoplasma gondiiIgG and IgM antibodies using a commercially available ELISA kit. Socio-demographic and associated risk factors forToxoplasmosisfrom each individual were also obtained and the data was analyzed using SPSS version 18.ResultsOf the examined HIV seropositive individuals, 87.4% (90/103) and 10.7% (11/103) were positive for anti-T.gondiiIgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression showed that anti-T. gondiiseropositivity was independently significantly associated with undercooked or raw meat consumption (adjusted OR=5.73, 95% CI=1.35-24.39; P=0.02) and having contact with cat (adjusted OR= 4.29, 95% CI=1.08-16.94; P=0.04) in HIV positive individuals. In HIV negative apparently healthy blood donors, prevalence of anti-T. gondiiantibodies were 70.29% and 2.97% for IgG and IgM, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that undercooked or raw meat consumption (adjusted OR=6.45, 95% CI=2.16-19.28; p=0.001) and sex (OR=6.79, 95% CI=2.14-21.60; p=0.001) were independently significantly associated with anti-T. gondiiIgG seropositivity, with a significantly higher number of males affected than females.ConclusionThe present findings showed a high sero-prevalence of anti-T. gondiiantibodies in HIV infected pre-ART and HIV non-infected apparently healthy blood donors in Bahir Dar. Consumption of undercooked or raw meat might greatly contribute towards acquiringT. gondiiinfection in HIV infected pre-ART and HIV non-infected apparently healthy blood donors. It may be appropriate to include routine serological screening test for determination of anti-T. gondiiantibodies in HIV infected pre-ART individuals and HIV negative apparently healthy blood donors. In addition, health education towards avoiding eating undercooked and raw meat, and avoiding contact with cats were recommended.