Further focused studies should be conducted taking into consideration relevant factors such as sample size. the disease is usually important for its severe implications in immuno-suppressed individuals including pregnant women as well as its severe effects on foetuses in congenital transmission. The rate of transmission to the foetus is usually 10C15% in the first trimester of gestation, which may increase to 68% in the third trimester.2 Thus maternal infections early in pregnancy are less likely to be transmitted to the foetus than infections later in pregnancy, but early foetal infections are likely to have more severe consequences than late infections.3 Although most infected foetuses (approximately 75%) do not have obvious SBMA clinical indicators at birth, BMS-663068 (Fostemsavir) many (approximately 80C85%) are likely to have manifestations such as chorioretinitis and mental retardation later in life.4,5 Infection during the first trimester may lead to spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, or overt disease in the neonate while infection acquired later during pregnancy is usually asymptomatic in the neonate, and may not be acknowledged.6 Maternal toxoplasmosis as a risk BMS-663068 (Fostemsavir) factor for spontaneous abortion was investigated and infection was found much more frequently in women with habitual abortion (18.5%) than in the normal pregnancy group (5.9%).7 Linnaeus and the oriental blow travel, (Fabricius) also have the capability of transporting viable oocyst (for 1 BMS-663068 (Fostemsavir) to 2 2 days) from cat faeces to food.8 Needle-stick injuries, cuts, blood transfusion and organ transplantation have also been pointed out as you possibly can contamination risk factors.9 Infection with Toxoplasma depends on the level and frequency of exposure to such factors as mentioned above and therefore usually affects scattered individuals clinically. There have however been a few reported cases of outbreaks in some areas implicating drinking unfiltered water with possible oocyst contamination.10,11 Outbreaks involving a group of students of the Cornel University or college Medical College implicating eating of undercooked hamburgers and, in Sao Paulo 110 persons admitting to eating undercooked meat after being diagnosed with toxoplasmosis have been reported.12,13 Toxoplasmosis may be diagnosed by direct and indirect methods. Direct methods include Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for the detection of DNA from samples of body fluids, demonstration of the organism through mouse inoculation, cell culture, ophthalmic screening and radiological studies.9,14 Indirect diagnosis is mainly serological methods for the detection of anti-antibodies. The most commonly used BMS-663068 (Fostemsavir) serologic assessments to detect the presence of anti-IgG and IgM antibodies are the Sabin-Feldman dye test, indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA), and agglutination assessments, or ELISA.15,16 In antibody detection for diagnosis of infection, anti-IgM and/or IgA antibodies in combination with IgG is reported to indicate mostly recent or acute infections because these antibodies are not usually in acquired immunity and very rare in chronic infections. Furthermore, IgA antibodies persist for over 3 or 4 4 months following acquired infections and low titres of IgG antibodies are usually in patients with active toxoplasmic chorioretinitis, in which IgM antibody cannot usually be detected.17 In Ghana, studies on toxoplasmosis in the past had employed mostly anti-IgG detection in patients’ sera. Seroprevalence studies for toxoplasmosis in farm animals indicated seropositivity of 39% in pigs, 26.8% in goats and 33.2% in sheep.18,19 antigens had also been detected in urine from 87.0% of infected eye patients and 73.1% pregnant women, screened.20 A study published in 1997, suggests that antibodies are more prevalent BMS-663068 (Fostemsavir) in women having cats at home than in women who do not possess cats.7 The most.
Further focused studies should be conducted taking into consideration relevant factors such as sample size