==== Front
Ann Saudi MedAnn Saudi MedAnnals of Saudi Medicine0256-49470975-4466King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 10.5144/0256-4947.2012.215aasm-2-214bCommentsRE: Antenatal screening for Toxoplasma gondii infection at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Al-Mendalawi Mahmood D. Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Al Kindy College of Medicine, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq, mdalmendalawi@yahoo.comMar-Apr 2012 32 2 214 215 Copyright © 2012, Annals of Saudi Medicine2012This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
==== Body
To the Editor: It is pleasing to know that the seronegative prevalence of toxoplasmosis among Saudi pregnant women has significantly increased from 42.5% in Al-Mohammad et al’s study1 to 62% in Almogren’s study.2 Also, the seropositive prevalence has significantly dropped from 57.5% (anti-Toxoplasma IgG=51.4%, anti-Toxoplasma IgM= 6.1%) to 38% (anti-Toxoplasma IgG=38%, anti-Toxoplasma IgM=0).2 Caution must be exercised in the interpretation of the pleasing outcome as these studies were hospital and not community-based. Risk factors contributing to the occurrence of toxoplasmosis among Saudi pregnant women have been recently elucidated. It tends to be most common among those who are relatively young, live in rural areas, and have relatively low incomes. The significant positive predictors for chronic toxoplasmosis include increasing age, rural residence, low family income, frequent consumption of undercooked meat, and previous obstetric problems (and/or multiparity). 1 Considering these dependent risk factors together with initiation of more active awareness programs through a national campaign would be prudent to accelerate that downward decline in the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the community, particularly among pregnant women.
==== Refs
REFERENCES
1 Al-Mohammad HI  Amin TT  Balaha MH  Al-Moghannum MS   Toxoplasmosis among the pregnant women attending a Saudi maternity hospital: seroprevalence and possible risk factors Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2010 104 493 504 20863438 
2 Almogren A   Antenatal screening for Toxoplasma gondii  infection at a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Ann Saudi Med 2011 31 569 72 22048499