[Survey of Toxoplasma gondii infection characteristics and its risk factors among healthy blood donation population in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection and its risk factors among healthy blood donation population in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, so as to provide the evidence for developing effective prevention and control measures.

METHODS: A total of 1 630 cases of blood donors in Shijiazhuang City were chosen as respondents, and all the respondents were qualified to the standard of blood donation. The antibodies to T. gondii were detected by using ELISA. The infection rates of T. gondii in blood donation population were compared between/among different genders, ages, occupations, education levels, and places of residence. The risk factors for Toxoplasma infection were surveyed with questionnaires.

RESULTS: A total of 1 630 cases of healthy blood donors were investigated, and among which 126 cases were positive in the detection of antibodies to T. gondii and the positive rate was 7.73%. The positive rates between/among the different genders, ages, occupations, and education levels were significantly different ( χ 2 = 4.36, 13.98, 9.71, 7.65, respectively, all P < 0.05), and the positive rates among different places of residence were not significantly different ( χ 2 = 1.63, P > 0.05). The questionnaire survey showed that the T. gondii infection was closely related to keeping pets, outside eating frequently, having chafing dish or barbecue, sharing cutting board for cooked and uncooked food, and no the habit of washing hands before meals.

CONCLUSIONS: The infection rate of T. gondii is relatively high among the healthy blood donation population in Shijiazhuang region. The cognitive education for T. gondii infection and infection monitoring are the keys to avoid the transfusion infection.