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TOXOPLASMA GONDII INFECTION IN RURAL GUATEMALAN CHILDREN

To determine the prevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in Guatemalan children, in 1999 and 2003 we surveyed caretakers and serologically tested children in the San Juan Sacatepequez area using Platelia Toxo IgG TMB enzyme immunoassay kits. In 1999, of 532 children six months to two years old, 66 (12.4%) were antibody positive. In 2003, in 500 children 3–10 years old antibody prevalence increased from 24% to 43% at age five years then leveled off. By multivariate analysis, drinking well water (relative risk [RR] = 1.78, 95% confidence limit [CL] = 1.00, 3.17, P = 0.05) and not cleaning up cat feces (RR = 2.06, 95% CL = 1.00, 4.28, P = 0.05) increased the risk of T. gondii seropositivity. Most T. gondii infections in children from these villages occurred by age five, but half were still not infected by adolescence. Therefore, it is important to educate girls entering child-bearing age about the risks of acute T. gondii infection and the local risk factors for infection.

Received August 23, 2004. Accepted for publication September 23, 2004.

Acknowledgments: We thank Drs. Carlos Mendoza and Edwin Ortega for their assistance with sample collection and field work. Authors’ addresses: Jeffrey L. Jones, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mailstop F-22, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, Telephone: 770-488-7771, Fax: 770-488-7761, E-mail: jlj1{at}cdc.gov. Beatriz Lopez, Maricruz Alvarez Mury, and Robert Klein, Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, 18 Avenida, 11–35 Zona 15 VH III, Guatemala City, Guatemala. Marianna Wilson and James Maguire, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mailstop F-36, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724. Stephen Luby, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mailstop A-38, 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333.

Reprint requests: Jeffrey L. Jones, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mailstop F-22, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724.