Abstract
Latent Toxoplasmosis and the Involvement in Traffic Accidents among Drivers
Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia, 1Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia, 3Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health (MOH), Madinah 42351, Saudi Arabia, 4Maternal and Child Hospital, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia, 5Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Correspondence Address:
Majed H Wakid, Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24382, Saudi Arabia, E-mail: mwakid@kau.edu.sa
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan intracellular obligate parasite found worldwide and cause Toxoplasmosis. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of countries that are exposed to traffic accidents, in addition to losing people, and it is also an economic issue that has cost the government huge sums of money. The main objective of the current study was to explore the relationship between latent toxoplasmosis and traffic accidents among Saudi male drivers. A case-control study was conducted to clarify the main aim of the study. Data were collected from the experimental and control group after signing the consent form using a questionnaire. Blood samples were collected from each participant and immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to differentiate between acute and latent infection. The prevalence of chronic toxoplasmosis immunoglobulin G in the current study was 23.8 % in drivers with a traffic accident history. The results obtained in this study indicate that the traffic accident may be due to chronic toxoplasmosis infection (p<0.009). The results obtained showed that cutting raw meat without wearing gloves may be the main source of chronic toxoplasmosis infection (p<0.05). The result showed that retired people were more susceptible to infection compared to other groups (p<0.05). The current study confirmed the relationship between chronic toxoplasmosis infection and traffic accidents, and the source of the infection was determined. Therefore, to avoid the consequences of public health and economic underestimation, we recommend linking the issuing of the traffic license with a negative result for chronic toxoplasmosis.
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