Prevalence of toxoplasma antibodies according to age with comments on the risk of prenatal infection

Abstract

Sera from 1661 persons in 12 age groups from 0 to 79 years were titrated for toxoplasma antibodies in the indirect immunofluorescence test. The sera were collected from patients with symptoms suggestive of acute, mainly respiratory, viral infections. After the first year of life, the prevalence of antibodies started to rise, reaching 59% between 40 and 79 years of age. From the prevalence of antibodies in different age groups the annual infection risk, i.e, the risk of a non-immune person acquiring toxoplasma infection, was estimated for successive age periods. The estimated annual infection risk increased from 0 . 5% in early childhood to 3% during adolescence and early adult life. Approximately 70--80% of females entered the age of reproduction without evidence of seroimmunity to toxoplasma. The risk of primary infection during pregnancy was estimated from the age distribution of parturient women in The Netherlands in 1975 and the age-specific incidence of primary infections, i.e. the incidence in the total population of susceptible and immune persons. This incidence of primary infection decreased from 1 . 62% per 9 months at the age of 17 1/2--20 years to 0 . 37% at the age of 37--45 years. The incidence of primary infections in pregnant women was estimated to be 1 . 25%.