Seroinfection of Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii, Parvovirus B19, Treponema pallidum, and HIV in a Pregnant Attending a Medical Center in Northern Peru

TL;DR

This study examines the prevalence of infections in pregnant women in northern Peru, highlighting high rates of parvovirus B19 and toxoplasmosis.

Contribution

The study provides new data on seroinfection rates of specific pathogens in a pregnant population in a developing region.

Findings

25.1% of pregnant women had antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii.

40.8% of pregnant women had IgM antibodies to parvovirus B19, indicating active infection.

Syphilis and HIV seroinfection rates were 2.2% and 0.6%, respectively.

Abstract

Transplacental infections are frequent, especially in developing countries, where limited screening is performed to find infectious agents in the pregnant population. We aim to determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics and seroinfection of antibodies against Toxoplasma, parvovirus B19, T. pallidum, and HIV in pregnant women who attended the Motupe Health Center in Lambayeque, Peru during July-August 2018.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 179 pregnant women interviewed with a standardized questionnaire. ELISA was used to determine antibodies to Toxoplasma and parvovirus B19. The detection of syphilis and HIV was conducted using immunochromatography, while the detection of hepatitis B was conducted using FTA-ABS and immunofluorescence, respectively.

Of 179 pregnant women, syphilis and HIV infections routinely included in the screening of pregnant women presented a seroinfection of 2.2 and 0.6%, respectively. Toxoplasmosis seroinfection was 25.1%, while IgM antiparvovirus B19 was 40.8%, revealing that pregnant women had an active infection at the time of study.

The level of seroinfection of toxoplasmosis reveals the risk to which pregnant women who participated in the study are exposed. The high seroinfection of parvovirus B19 could explain the cases of spontaneous abortion and levels of anemia in newborn that have been reported in Motupe, Lambayeque, Peru. However, future causality studies are necessary to determine the significance of these findings.