Prevalence of IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii among Syrian females of childbearing age.

Despite the prevalence of seronegativity against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) (73.3%) is apparently high in Barah’s study,1 I presume that that is not the actual prevalence. This is partially attributed to some limitations addressed by Barah.1 It is well-know that the precision of any study data depends among other factors, upon the response rate of the participants. The response rate in Barah’s study1 was low (27.65%). I presume that the reluctance of the female participants to take part in the Barah’s study1 is partially related to the relatively painful procedure of venipuncture blood sampling. Though T. gondii infection in humans is routinely assessed by serological means involving serum samples, the detection of anti-T. gondii immunoglobulin (IgG) is also possible using a non-invasive methodology employing saliva samples. In a Swiss study,2 sera and saliva of 201 healthy volunteers were investigated for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies by immunoblotting. The sera of 59 (29.4%) individuals showed IgG antibodies against T. gondii by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Vidas, and immunoblotting; 58 (98.3%) of these were also positive for anti-T. gondii IgG in the saliva immunoblot. The saliva immunoblot test exhibits a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 98.5%. Thus, saliva could be used as an alternative, non-invasive means for the detection of specific anti-T. gondii IgG in humans. I presume that the substitution of serum samples by saliva could increase the response rate among participants and might alter the prevalence of seropositivity and seronegativity against T. gondii. Nevertheless, it is essential to consider toxoplasmosis a significant health threat in Syria. Suitable preventive and therapeutic measures are needed to hamper the spread of this infection in the community.