seroepidemiological study of toxoplasma gondii infection among psychiatric patients in mashhad, northeast of iran

background: psychiatric patients have an increased risk of some infections like toxoplasmosis. investigations on toxoplasma gondii infection among psychiatric patients have been limited in mashhad, northeast of iran. in this case-control study, prevalence of t. gondii was investigated by serological method. methods: this case-control study was performed among psychiatric patients admitted to avicenna hospital in mashhad, northeast of iran. three hundred and fifty inpatients and 350 controls were examined in 2012-2013 for detection of igg and igm antibodies against t. gondii in their blood sera by elisa. socio-demographic and clinical manifestations of the patients were obtained. results: anti- t. gondii igg antibodies was found in 164 (46.85%) of 350 psychiatric inpatients and 120 (34.28%) of 350 controls. seventeen (4.85%) of psychiatric individuals and 3 (0.85%) of control group were igm+/igg- indicating acute form of toxoplasmosis. there were no statistically significant differences between the case and control groups. in patient group, schizophrenic patients had the highest positive rate (46.28%) and bipolar mood disorder had the second most prevalent rate (20%). of 162 schizophrenia patients, 65 (40.1%) had latent infection which was higher than that observed in controls. conclusion: the prevalence of t. gondii infection among psychiatric patients suffering from schizophrenia was more in mashhad, compared with control group.