# Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii Infection Among Blood Donors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

## TL;DR

This study reviews global data to estimate how common Toxoplasma gondii infection is among blood donors, using both serological and molecular methods.

## Contribution

The study provides the first comprehensive meta-analysis of T. gondii prevalence in blood donors using both serological and molecular diagnostic methods.

## Key findings

- The pooled serological prevalence of T. gondii infection among blood donors was 35.7%.
- Molecular detection methods found a much lower prevalence of 1.9%.
- High heterogeneity across studies suggests regional and methodological variability in T. gondii detection.

## Abstract

Our study aims to thoroughly evaluate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection among blood donors, utilizing robust methodologies to inform public health policies and improve transfusion safety measures. An extensive literature search was executed across databases such as Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane Central, identifying observational studies reporting T. gondii seroreactivity and detection prevalence in blood donors across various regions. Heterogeneity was assessed visually via forest plots and statistically using Cochran’s Q test (with p-values) and the I² statistic with 95% CIs. The meta-analysis estimated pooled prevalence rates with a 95% CI and included rigorous quality assessments, outlier, and influential analyses to verify the findings’ validity. Thirty-eight studies, published between 1998 and 2024, were incorporated into our review, revealing a T. gondii reactivity prevalence of 35.7% (95% CI: 29.8-42%) through serological diagnostic methods and 1.9% (95% CI: 0.2-4.9%) through molecular methods. The substantial heterogeneity detected across studies underscores the necessity for future investigations to explore the determinants of T. gondii reactivity and detection prevalence, addressing the review’s identified limitations with more targeted research designs.