Related Experiment Videos
[Congenital toxoplasmosis: contribution of postnatal biological follow-up]
H Fricker-Hidalgo1, H Pelloux, M Bost
1Départment de Parasitologie-Mycologie médicale et moléculaire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble.
Insights
Sensitive diagnostic techniques like ELIFA and ISAGA are crucial for early postnatal detection of congenital toxoplasmosis, enabling prompt follow-up. These methods identify toxoplasmic infection in infants shortly after birth.
Area of Science:
- Medical Diagnostics
- Infectious Diseases
- Parasitology
Objectives:
The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis includes a postnatal follow-up, often preceded by a prenatal diagnosis. The aim of our study was to assess the performances of the different techniques used and the value of the samples in the postnatal biological diagnosis.
Methods:
The methods available between 1985 and 1993 consisted in the detection of: i) Toxoplasma gondii in the placenta; ii) anti-T. gondii IgM in infant's blood by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA), immuno-sorbent agglutination assay (ISAGA) and indirect immuno-fluorescence (IFI), and anti-T. gondii IgG by ELISA and IFI; and iii) neo-synthetized anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM by enzyme-linked immuno-filtration assay (ELIFA).
Results:
Among 400 cases of seroconversion diagnosed during pregnancy, a sure diagnosis with complete follow-up could be established for 104 infants; 37 of them had proven congenital toxoplasmosis (CT+) while 75 had no congenital toxoplasmosis (CT-). Biological arguments supporting congenital toxoplasmosis had been observed as early as birth in 78.4% of CT+ cases and before two months in 94.6%. The serologic tests were positive in 88.2% of CT+ cases by ELIFA, in 73.0% by ISAGA, in 43.3% by ELISA M and in 14.0% by IFI M. ELIFA was the less specific method (91.3%).
Conclusion:
The sensitive techniques (ELIFA and ISAGA), were essential for the instant follow-up to detect toxoplasmic infection as early as birth.