Seroprevalence of <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> among healthy blood donors in two locations in Tunisia and associated risk factors
Arwa Lachkhem, Ibtissem Lahmar, Lokman Galal, Oussama Babba, Habib Mezhoud, Mohssen Hassine, Ahmed Lachkhem, Marie‐Laure Dardé, Aurelién Mercier, Hamouda Babba
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that can be transmitted to humans through a variety of routes including blood transfusion. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection and associated risk factors in healthy blood donors in Tunisia. A total of 800 healthy blood donors from two blood centers in south and coastal Tunisia were analyzed for anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISA), respectively. Structured questionnaires were used to gather information on risk factors for T. gondii infection during collection. The overall seroprevalence was 44.4% of which 352 (44%) and 3 (0.4%) were positive for IgG and both IgG and IgM anti-T. gondii antibodies, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that T. gondii seropositivity was significantly associated with the birth place (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.49-4.94) and the age of the donors (adjusted OR = 4.98; 95% CI: 1.50-16.58) which are independent risk factors. In addition, the variables of hand washing before eating (adjusted OR = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.37-0.74) and living in an urban environment (adjusted OR = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.13-0.71) are two protective factors. This study provided the first data on the seroprevalence and epidemiology of T. gondii infection in healthy blood donors in Tunisia.