Toxoplasmosis in Greater Victoria.

Titres of antibody to Toxoplasma gondii were determined in 596 inhabitants of Greater Victoria who were either patients at two hospitals or healthy volunteers. The survey included 404 women of childbearing age, 305 of whom had just given birth. The proportion of persons with antibody to T. gondii at a titre of 1:8 or greater as determined by a methylene blue dye test was 28%. Titration of IgM antibody specific to T. gondii by the indirect fluorescent antibody test, performed in the serum samples with a titre of 1:8 or greater by the dye test, indicated that 3% of the 596 patients had recently acquired infection with T. gondii. The proportion of women with antibody to T. gondii among those who had just given birth was 25%, but the proportion among women aged 31 to 35 years who had just given birth was 37%.