Seroepidemiological study of toxoplasmosis in rural areas in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia.

Serum from 1400 human subjects of different age, occupation, life style of both sexes was collected. Serological analysis for inactive toxoplasmosis (levels of IgG) and active toxoplasmosis (IgM) was done using the Microparticle Enzyme Immuno-Assay (MEIA) IMx-Toxo, IgG and IgM assays. In Al-Nereiyah and Al-Qurain, the overall seroprevalence of inactive toxoplasmosis was almost similar (26.36% and 25.0% respectively), while active toxoplasmosis was higher in Al-Qurain (4.91%) than in Al-Nereiyah (3.78%). The seroprevalence of IgG was similar in males and females in both areas, but increased with age and was higher in housewives, employees and farmers than in students and children. Almost a similar result was recorded for IgM in respect to age and occupation except that seroprevalence was higher in females than in males in Al-Qurain area.