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Molecular and serological study on congenital toxoplasmosis in newborn of Shiraz, Southern Iran

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Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by an obligatory intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. The congenital form of the disease is a significant health problem around the world. This study aimed to determine the incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis in the newborn of Shiraz, Southern Iran, between 2013 and 2018. A total of 2498 blood samples of neonates were randomly collected by a standard heel puncture technique and dried on Guthrie cards from Shiraz newborn screening center. We provided questionnaire forms for mothers according to their demographic characteristics, such as age, place of residence, history of having cats as pet, and literacy level. ELISA immunocapture and PCR assays were applied to detect anti-Toxoplasma IgM and the parasite DNA in dried blood spot samples. The anti-Toxoplasma IgM antibody was detected in two out of the 2498 infants. Moreover, borderline titers were observed in 3 samples, which were considered suspicious, so these were retested after 18 months to detect IgG against Toxoplasma. Positive IgG titer was observed in two infants who had a positive IgM level. The genome of Toxoplasma was detected in one sample out of 2498. No significant differences were seen between the epidemiological factors with congenital infection. The incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis is estimated at 0.08% of studied samples. It seems that this incidence could present to the health ministry as a logical research achievement for the national screening program of newborns in Iran.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request

Change history

  • 04 December 2020

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to appreciate the staff of the neonatal screening center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Mr Saied Hatam for his expert edition. This study was the subject of the MSc dissertation of Mostafa Omidian.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the grant of the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, Grant No. 93-7311

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mostafa Omidian & Qasem Asgari

  2. Central Neonatal Screening Laboratory, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Amir Hossein Ganjkarimi

  3. Basic Sciences in Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Gholamreza Hatam

Authors
  1. Mostafa Omidian
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  2. Amir Hossein Ganjkarimi
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  3. Qasem Asgari
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  4. Gholamreza Hatam
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Contributions

Conceptualization: G. R. Hatam and A. H. Ganjkarimi; Methodology: M. Omidian and A. H. Ganjkarimi; Formal analysis and investigation: A. H. Ganjkarimi, Q. Asgari; Writing—original draft preparation: Q. Asgari; Writing—review and editing: G. R. Hatam, Q. Asgari; Funding acquisition, Resources and Supervision: G. R. Hatam

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Correspondence to Qasem Asgari or Gholamreza Hatam.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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The local Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences approved the consent form, and the mothers completed pre-set questionnaire forms.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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Omidian, M., Ganjkarimi, A.H., Asgari, Q. et al. Molecular and serological study on congenital toxoplasmosis in newborn of Shiraz, Southern Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 16122–16128 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11707-x

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