seroepidemiology of toxoplasma infection in the women aged 15 to 45 years in hamadan, west of iran

background: there was not documented evidence of toxoplasma infection in hamadan previously, but a brief report of isolation of a t. gondi strain from a turkey that it had high virulence to mice. in order to study of toxoplasma infection in the at risk population and to determine seropositivity in this target population, women aged 15 to 45 years, a study carried out in hamadan. methods: a total of 360 blood samples collected randomly from general population of women, residents of hamadan city. sera were separated in laboratory and examined for toxoplasma antibodies by indirect fluorescents antibody test (ifat).a titer 1:20 considered as positive for toxoplasma infection in the tested subjects. results: a total of 140 samples (38.9%) were positive at titer 1:20 or more. frequency of different titers was as follows: 1:20, 22.8%; 1: 100, 9.7%; 1:200, 3.3%; 1:400, 2.8% and 1:800 or more, 0.8%. infection rate in the housewives were 56.3% and was significantly more than other groups ( p ). the most subjects had the titer 1:20. sero-positivity was increased significantly with age, duration of residence in the region, marital status, touching cats and illiterate individuals. no significant correlation was found between sero-positivity and kind of drinking-water, vegetable and unfreezed, under-cooked meat consumption. the highest rate of infection observed in married women. we did not find any positive evidences in relation to transfusion history and sero-positivity. conclusion: regarding to other reports, this area has a relatively high sero-positivity in this group. more studies are recommended to detect the incidence of infection in at risk women, as well as the congenital toxoplasmosis, which can be a problem in this area.