The investigation of congenital toxoplasmosis in a tertiary care hospital in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis in Turkey. METHODS This study was conducted in the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey during the period of 2006 and 2007. Venous blood before delivery and cord blood during delivery were collected from 138 women, and we observed the presence of immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM antibodies by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA), western blotting, and other serologic tests. RESULTS The combination of ELISA and western blotting have the greatest sensitivity among the serological techniques used. The results of the cord and venous sera were comparable with no significant difference, except for one sample. CONCLUSION Data obtained showed that early characterization of IgG antibodies synthesized by congenitally infected newborn is important. This preliminary study sets an example to the studies that would help both in determining the incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis by screening larger populations and in preventing sequels by early diagnosis.