A Community-based Survey of Human Toxoplasmosis in Rural Amazonia: Seroprevalence, Seroconversion Rate, and Associated Risk Factors

IgG antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were detected in, March-April 2004, in 65.8% (95% confidence interval, 60.8-70.8%) of 342 systematically sampled subjects 5-90 years of age (87.5% of the eligible) living in a rural settlement in Amazonia, with a seroconversion rate of 9% over I year of follow-up of 99 seronegative subjects. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified age as the only significant independent predictor of seropositivity at the baseline. Each additional year of age increases the odds of being seropositive by 6%, and 76.8% of the subjects are expected to be seropositive at 30 years of age. A single high-prevalence spatial cluster, comprising 11.9% of the seropositive subjects, was detected in the area; households in the cluster were less likely to have dogs as pets and their heads had a lower education level, when compared with households located outside the cluster. The challenges for preventing human toxoplasmosis in tropical rural settings are discussed.