Cats are the final host of the parasite, while the intermediate host is warm-blooded animals, as well as humans [1]. This parasite is considered one of the parasites that cause common diseases between humans and animals, and it is a widespread disease [2]. It affects pregnant women and has the ability to cross into the uterus to cause the fetus to vary degrees of damage to the fetus’s organs and also cause miscarriage of the pregnant woman [3]. As for a person, such as a man or woman who is not pregnant, the symptoms of this disease are not severe, which causes general symptoms such as fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, muscle pain [4].

The parasite is transmitted to humans or animals through contact with cats or contact with household cat tools and houses, it can also be transmitted by taking food and drink contaminated with cat feces, it is also transmitted from the mother to the fetus by transfusion of blood [5,6]. 

There are several methods for diagnosing the parasite, it is one of the most common methods of identification in the intermediate host (Figure 1):

• Serological Tests

• 2-PCR Test

• 3-Tissue Cutting

• 4-It is a rare method of diagnosis parasite isolation and injection in laboratory animals [4]

There are two phases of this parasite in the host. The first phase in intermediate host is active phase, which is carried out in the body fluids of the host. As for the second phase, this is the phase that is present in the tissues of the intermediate host and is in the form of a cyst[8].

Figure 1: Life Cycle Toxoplasma Gondii [7]

The sexual phase occurs in cats, the definitive host, which is formed within the sexual reproduction to shed the oocyst [9].

Sample Collection

Collected 70 blood samples from pregnant women in Baghdad, from (20 to 50 years old), by diagnosis the parasite by Roche Cobas e411 and rapid test. The tests were conducted in Al-Bayan College laboratories and in Al- (Amal) Lab, and five uninfected samples were in use as a control group. We followed the method [10].in the process of collecting 3 mm of blood for both groups, 3 mm of blood was placed in a tube in which there is without anticoagulant to extract serum to reveal the parasite and in what phase if it was found by with Roche kit by Roche Cobas e411 and rapid test.

Statistical Analysis

The data were analyzed, include chi-square was used to detect the differences among different groups. Also T.test was used between the percentages [11].

The results showed that women with toxoplasmosis sickness are (31) of the total number of women examined. (10) of the women had an acute case and (21) chronic cases by applying the Roche Cobas e411 technique, shown in Table 1.  and Table 2, While the second method (rapid test) had a ratio of (totally 19) acute 6 and chronic 13 as Table 3.

There is a difference between the percentage of results in the first method from the second method, this is attributed to several reasons, the most important of which is the use of the advanced technology used in the first method, which showed an error rate for the second method.

And also it is preferable to use this first test because this test is one of the tests that shows the results qualitatively and quantitatively at a reasonable price for patients, this test has also obtained a patent in the field of immunological tests analysis [12]. 

Table 1: Show the result the Roche Cobas e411

Table 2: The Percentage of Acute and Chronic Infection in Pregnant Women Who Suffer from Toxoplasmosis by Roche Cobas E411technique

Table 3: The Percentage of Acute and Chronic Infection in Pregnant Women Who Suffer from Toxoplasmosis by Rapid Test

Table 4: The Percentage of Infection in Pregnant Women Who Suffer from Toxoplasmosis by Roche Cobas E411technique According Ages

Table 5: The Percentage of Infection in Pregnant Women Who Suffer from Toxoplasmosis by Rapid Test According Ages

Recently, it is widely used in laboratory tests, so it is preferable to use the first test to detect this parasite has the accuracy and sensitivity to detect and determine the qualitative and quantitative results of the parasite, which do not appear in the second test with the same quality as the first test.

Also, one of the benefits of the first method is appear the percentage of infection that the first method lacks. This percentage is useful in knowing the development of the condition and its response to treatment when a particular type of parasite treatment is given [13,14].

The Table 4,5, showed that there was no significant difference between the ages of women under 30 years and over 30 years in both diagnostic methods.

The prevalence of the parasite in Baghdad among pregnant women, which was diagnosed method appear the amount of the parasite in a pregnant woman like, this method benefits in addition to diagnosing the parasite and consider perfect method that is also useful in treating the patient and knowing the extent of the patient's response to treatment or not responding, this results agreed with these research with [14,15].

1. Frenkel, J.K. et al. “Toxoplasma gondii in cats: Fecal stages identified as coccidian oocysts.” Science, vol. 167, 1970, pp. 893–896.

2. Nicolle, C., and L. Manceaux. “Sur un protozoaire nouveau du gondii.” Paris, vol. 147, 1909, pp. 763–766.

3. Spalding, S.M. et al. “Estudo Prospectivo de Gestantes e Seus Bebês com Risco de Transmissão de Toxoplasmose Congênita em Município do Rio Grande do Sul.” Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, vol. 36, 2003, pp. 483–491.

4. Desmonts, G., and J. Couvreur. “Congenital toxoplasmosis: A prospective study of 378 pregnancies.” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 290, 1974, pp. 1110–1116.

5. Dubey, J.P., and C.P. Beattie. Toxoplasmosis of Animals and Man. CRC Press, 1988.

6. Frenkel, J.K. “The Coccidia: Eimeria, Isospora, toxoplasma and related genera.” Toxoplasmosis: Parasite Life Cycle, Pathology and Immunology, edited by D.M. Hammond and P.L. Long, University Park Press, 1973, pp. 343–410.

7. McAuley, J.B. “Congenital toxoplasmosis.” Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, vol. 3, 2014, pp. S30–S33.

8. Remington, J.S. et al.Toxoplasmosis. Infectious Diseases of the Fetus and Newborn Infant. 5th ed., W.B. Saunders, 2001, pp. 205–346.

9. Dubey, J.P. et al. “Structure of toxoplasma gondii Tachyzoites, Bradyzoites, and Sporozoites, and biology and development of tissue cysts.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews, vol. 11, 1998, pp. 267–299.

10. Garvey, J.S. et al. Methods in Immunology. 3rd ed., W.A. Benjamin, 1981, p. 297.

11. Steel, R.G.D., and J.H. Torrie. Principles and Procedures of Statistics. 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 1980, pp. 12–18.

12. Hamad, Hanaa K. “Study of the effect of acute toxoplasmosis on some blood and serum variables in pregnant women in the city of Baghdad.” Baghdad Science Journal, 2014.

13. Jonies, T.C. et al. Veterinary Pathology. 6th ed., Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1997, pp. 555–560.

14. Dubey, J.P. et al. “Genetic and biologic characterization of toxoplasma gondii isolates of cats from China.” Veterinary Parasitology, vol. 145, 2007, pp. 352–356.

15. Al-Saeed, Adel T.M. et al. “Detection of toxoplasmosis among women with abortion using molecular and serological tests in Duhok city.” Duhok Medical Journal, vol. 10, no. 2, 2016.