Seroepidemiology of infection with Toxoplasma gondii in migrant agricultural workers living in poverty in Durango, Mexico

BACKGROUND: Migrant agricultural workers are a group of people living in poverty with poor housing, sanitary conditions and hygiene practices. Little is known about the epidemiology of infection with Toxoplasma gondii in migrant agricultural workers. METHODS: We investigated the presence of anti-Tox...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasites & vectors 2013-04, Vol.6 (1), p.113-113, Article 113
Main Authors: Alvarado-Esquivel, Cosme, Campillo-Ruiz, Federico, Liesenfeld, Oliver
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Agriculture
Antibodies, Protozoan - blood
Demography
eating out
educational status
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Epidemiology
farm labor
Female
gender
Health aspects
Humans
hygiene
immunoassays
immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin G - blood
immunoglobulin M
Immunoglobulin M - blood
Male
meat consumption
memory
Mexico - epidemiology
Middle Aged
Migrant labor
migrant workers
people
planning
Poverty
protozoan antibodies
raw milk
raw vegetables
regression analysis
Risk Factors
rural areas
Seroepidemiologic Studies
serological surveys
seroprevalence
Socioeconomic Factors
suburban areas
syncope
Toxoplasma - immunology
Toxoplasma - isolation & purification
Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis - epidemiology
Toxoplasmosis - parasitology
Transients and Migrants
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Migrant agricultural workers are a group of people living in poverty with poor housing, sanitary conditions and hygiene practices. Little is known about the epidemiology of infection with Toxoplasma gondii in migrant agricultural workers. METHODS: We investigated the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies in 173 migrant workers hired for seasonal agricultural work in Durango State in northern Mexico using enzyme-linked immunoassays. RESULTS: Of the 173 migrant workers (mean age 34.82 ± 14.01 years), 50 (28.9%) had anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies and 36 (20.8%) had anti-Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. Seroprevalence was not influenced by gender, age, birth place, or educational level. In contrast, seroprevalence was significantly higher in workers residing in rural areas than those in urban or suburban areas. Migrant workers suffering from memory impairment, dizziness, or syncope had significantly higher seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies than those without such clinical features. Logistic regression analysis showed that T. gondii exposure was positively associated with consumption of unwashed raw vegetables (OR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.06-5.35; P = 0.03) and low frequency of eating out of home (OR = 3.87; 95% CI: 1.43-10.42; P = 0.007), and negatively associated with national trips (OR = 0.30; 95% CI: 0.13-0.65; P = 0.003) and consumption of raw milk (OR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.18-0.87; P = 0.02). Other behavioral characteristics including consumption of meat or untreated water were not associated with T. gondii infection. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of T. gondii infection in internal migrant agricultural workers living in poverty. Results deserve further investigation of causal relations between clinical symptoms and infection, and may be useful for optimal planning of preventive measures.
ISSN:1756-3305
1756-3305
DOI:10.1186/1756-3305-6-113