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Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and associated risk factors for infection in the Netherlands: third cross-sectional national study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2023

Oda E. van den Berg*
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Kamelia R. Stanoeva
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands European Public Health Microbiology Training Programme (EUPHEM), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden
Rens Zonneveld
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Denise Hoek-van Deursen
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Fiona R. van der Klis
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Jan van de Kassteele
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Eelco Franz
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Marieke Opsteegh
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Ingrid H. M. Friesema
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Laetitia M. Kortbeek
Affiliation:
Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
*
Corresponding author: Oda E. van den Berg; Email: oda.van.den.berg@rivm.nl
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Abstract

A third nationally representative serosurvey was performed to study the changes in Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) seroprevalence in the Netherlands over a 20-year time span and to identify and confirm risk factors for acquired toxoplasmosis. This cross-sectional study (conducted in 2016/2017) was designed similarly to the previous two studies (1995/1996 and 2006/2007) and included a questionnaire and serum sampling among Dutch residents. Factors associated with seropositivity for T. gondii were determined using multivariable analysis of the questionnaire-derived data. The earlier observed decrease in T. gondii seroprevalence between 1995/1996 and 2006/2007 (from 40.5% to 26.0%) did not continue into 2016/2017 (29.9%). Similarly to the previous studies, the seroprevalence increased with age and varied among regions. In all studies, higher T. gondii seropositivity was associated with increasing age, lower educational level, not living in the Southeast, and eating raw or semi-cooked pork. The incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis was estimated at 1.3/1000 (95% CI 0.9–1.8) live-born children in 2017. As the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the Netherlands did not decrease over the last decade, an increase in public health awareness is needed and prevention measures may need to be taken to achieve a further reduction in T. gondii infections in the Netherlands.

Information

Type
Original Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. Estimated age-specific weighted prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii IgG antibodies in the three Dutch PIENTER serosurveys.

Figure 1

Figure 2. Estimated age-specific force of infection for Toxoplasma gondii in women (P3).

Figure 2

Table 1. Uncorrected prevalence of specific antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii (%) and multivariable logistic regression analyses of risk factors associated with seropositivity in participants aged 0–19 and 20–89 years

Figure 3

Table 2. Prevalencea of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in 2006/2007 and 2016/2017, stratified for gender, degree of urbanisation, being born in the Netherlands, and ethnicity

Figure 4

Table 3. Comparison of the associated risk factors for those aged 20-79 years between the different PIENTER studies

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