Abstract:

Background: Toxoplasma Gondi, is one of the infectious agents of congenital TORCH infections, causes severe clinical outcomes in fetus and newborns. Nevertheless this life-threatening parasitic disease in preventable by simple preventive measures related to lifestyle during pregnancy.

Methods: A total of 379 pregnant women in Nyamagana district were randomly surveyed to determine the knowledge and their practices on Toxoplasmosis. The questionnaire covered respondent’s general information and knowledge on plausible risks factors, symptoms, prevention knowledge, and preventive behavior regarding Toxoplasmosis.

Results: Majority of pregnant women were below 26 years of age (54.4%), attended clinic at Nyamagana hospital (78.9%), with greater than one conception (77%), number of children below 4 (91.6%), and had no history of abortion (90.4%). Based on this study, 2.9% of these pregnant women heard about Toxoplasmosis and 1.6% were aware of the mode of transmission of Toxoplasmosis. A small percentage of these pregnant women knew that Toxoplasmosis had effects to a pregnant woman (1.3%) and 16.4% had history of abortion. Further analysis revealed that, no significant association was found between the demographic variable and the responses from these pregnant women regarding knowledge and practices on Toxoplasmosis. Many of these pregnant women (99%) don’t know what causes Toxoplasmosis.

Conclusion: Based on the study results, we report there is still low knowledge and practice on Toxoplasmosis among pregnant women attending ANC in Nyamagana district. The complex interaction of risk factors for Toxoplasmosis needs to be studied in larger longitudinal studies. Thus, it is suggested that health education on toxoplasmosis and primary behavioral practices should be consistently offered to reproductive age women in general and pregnant women in particular. This information could help to reduce vertical transmission of Toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.