Toxoplasmosis surveillance during pregnancy and quality assurance of methods in Hungary

In Hungary, screening programs have been performed for the early detection of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in three different counties. The results of a screening program performed in the town of Szeged are discussed in details. The pregnant women are screened by serological and molecular biological methods (anti-Toxoplasma CFT, IgG, IgM, anti-P30 IgA ELISA, IgG avidity test, PCR amplification). The women are first screened within the first 16 weeks of gestation. Seronegative cases are retested for seroconversion in every second month. Appropriate treatment is immediately started both in the mothers suspicious of acute toxoplasmosis and in their offspring. The urine samples of the babies are examined by nested PCR specific to B1 gene of Toxoplasma gondii. No cases of congenital toxoplasmosis have been detected among the screened and treated children so far. Thus, we consider the program as highly successful for screening of congenital toxoplasmosis. To insure the quality of the applied laboratory diagnostic methods, the QualiCont Company organizes two quality control investigations yearly in the laboratories involved.