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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2900-2906, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Incidence of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in 35,940 Pregnant Women in Norway and Pregnancy Outcome for Infected Women

Pål A. Jenum,1,* Babill Stray-Pedersen,2 Kjetil K. Melby,3 Georg Kapperud,1,4 Andrew Whitelaw,5 Anne Eskild,6 and Jan Eng1

Department of Bacteriology1 and Department of Social Medicine,6 National Institute of Public Health, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, National Hospital,2 Department of Microbiology, Ullevål University Hospital,3 and Section of Food Hygiene, Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine,4 Oslo, Norway, and Institute of Child Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, England5

Received 30 December 1997/Returned for modification 24 February 1998/Accepted 8 June 1998

From 1992 to 1994 a screening program for detection of specific Toxoplasma gondii antibodies involving 35,940 pregnant women was conducted in Norway. For women with serological evidence of primary T. gondii infection, amniocentesis and antiparasitic treatment were offered. The amniotic fluid was examined for T. gondii by PCR and mouse inoculation to detect fetal infection. Infants of infected mothers had clinical and serological follow-up for at least 1 year to detect congenital infection. Of the women 10.9% were infected before the onset of pregnancy. Forty-seven women (0.17% among previously noninfected women) showed evidence of primary infection during pregnancy. The highest incidence was detected (i) among foreign women (0.60%), (ii) in the capital city of Oslo (0.46%), and (iii) in the first trimester (0.29%). Congenital infection was detected in 11 infants, giving a transmission rate of 23% overall, 13% in the first trimester, 29% in the second, and 50% in the third. During the 1-year follow-up period only one infant, born to an untreated mother, was found to be clinically affected (unilateral chorioretinitis and loss of vision). At the beginning of pregnancy 0.6% of the previously uninfected women were falsely identified as positive by the Platelia Toxo-IgM test, the percentage increasing to 1.3% at the end of pregnancy. Of the women infected prior to pregnancy 6.8% had persisting specific immunoglobulin M (IgM). A positive specific-IgM result had a low predictive value for identifying primary T. gondii infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404 Torshov, 0403 Oslo, Norway. Phone: (47) 22 04 22 00. Fax: (47) 22 04 25 18.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2900-2906, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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