Evaluation of the Presence of Anti-Toxoplasma Antibodies in Blood Donors’ Presenting to Blood Transfusion Center, Bushehr, Iran

Background: If blood donors are infected with toxoplasmosis, they often have no obvious clinical symptoms due to a healthy immune system, but the Toxoplasma is still present in their white blood cells. Blood recipients are also often people with various anemia or defective immune systems. Therefore, receiving such blood will increase the risk of infection and acute form of toxoplasmosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sero-epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in blood donors presenting to Bushehr Blood Transfusion Organization. Method and Materials: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 243 blood donors presenting to Bushehr Blood Transfusion Organization from May 2020 to May 2021 were examined for the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies using ELISA method. The results along with the questionnaire information were analyzed using SPSS software and Chi-square test. Results: In this study, 76 (31.3%) and 10 (4.1%) blood donors were positive for anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. In five cases, both IgG and IgM antibodies were positive. The results revealed no statistically significant relationship between infection with toxoplasma and some of the variables such as permanent residence, age, history of cat ownership, history consuming unpasteurized milk and vegetable cleaning method. Conclusion: Considering the relatively significant prevalence of toxoplasmosis among blood donors in Bushehr and given the fact that toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening risk factor in immune-compromised blood recipients, it is recommended that health planners add the toxoplasmosis diagnosis tests to the list of essential screening tests for blood donors.