Prevalence of IgG antibodies specific to Toxoplasma gondii among blood donors in Recife, Northeast Brazil

A serological survey of Toxoplasma gondii infection in blood donors was carried out in order to identify seroprevalence in Recife, Brazil. Sera from 160 individuals (119 male and 41 female) were evaluated by using a Toxoplasma IgG-antibody enzyme immunoassay (Denka Seiken Co., LTD., Tokyo, Japan). The seropositive percentual for males (79.0 percent) showed to be higher (p < 0.05) than for females (63.4 percent). This percentage increases with age, ranging from 18.2 percent to 92.6 percent for individuals aging under 20 and 40-50 years old, respectively. For women of childbearing age (18-40 years) it was found a prevalence of 51.6 percent