|
Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 110, No. 7, 2015, pp. 929-935
|
Bioline Code: oc15127
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
|
|
Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 110, No. 7, 2015, pp. 929-935
en |
Waterborne toxoplasmosis investigated and analysed under hydrogeological assessment: new data and perspectives for further research
Pereira Vieira, Flávia; da Glória Alves, Maria; Mattos Martins, Livia; Lucínia Peixoto Rangel, Alba; Prakash Dubey, Jitender; Hill, Dolores & Maria Garcia Bahia-Oliveira, Lilian
Abstract
We present a set of data on human and chicken Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence that was investigated and
analysed in light of groundwater vulnerability information in an area endemic for waterborne toxoplasmosis in Brazil.
Hydrogeological assessment was undertaken to select sites for water collection from wells for T. gondii oocyst
testing and for collecting blood from free-range chickens and humans for anti-T. gondii serologic testing. Serologic
testing of human specimens was done using conventional commercial tests and a sporozoite-specific embryogenesisrelated
protein (TgERP), which is able to differentiate whether infection resulted from tissue cysts or oocysts. Water
specimens were negative for the presence of viable T. gondii oocysts. However, seroprevalence in free-range chickens
was significantly associated with vulnerability of groundwater to surface contamination (p < 0.0001; odds ratio:
4.73, 95% confidence interval: 2.18-10.2). Surprisingly, a high prevalence of antibodies against TgERP was detected
in human specimens, suggesting the possibility of a continuous contamination of drinking water with T. gondii
oocysts in this endemic setting. These findings and the new proposed approach to investigate and analyse endemic
toxoplasmosis in light of groundwater vulnerability information associated with prevalence in humans estimated by
oocyst antigens recognition have implications for the potential role of hydrogeological assessment in researching
waterborne toxoplasmosis at a global scale.
Keywords
Toxoplasma gondii; groundwater contamination; oocysts; hydrogeology; TgERP; geomedicine
|
|
© Copyright 2015 - Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Alternative site location: http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br
|
|