Cross-sectional community-based study to assess the awareness of toxoplasmosis in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

A few reports have been published and documented low level of awareness on toxoplasmosis among Saudi women. Herein, a cross sectional community based study was undertaken to evaluate basic knowledge on toxoplasmosis among residents in the Eastern province (Sharqiyah). Thisstudy was conducted between December 2022 and January 2023 on 334 females from different ages and educational backgrounds. Analysis of their responses revealed that only (24.9%) had heard about the disease. However, (69.8%) properly identified cats as the source of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), but a smaller percentage (47.7%) knew that they might become infected through handling cat feces, and a few (26.3%) believed that bad hand hygiene can result in T. gondii infection. A few males (n = 26) have also participated, for the first time in Saudi Arabia, and displayed also low level of knowledge on toxoplasmosis. We do recommend establishing educational programs for females, in various Saudi provinces, to raise awareness on toxoplasmosis.

KEYWORDS:

• Toxoplasma gondii
• awareness
• transmission
• female
• Saudi Arabia

Acknowledgements

The author expresses her appreciation for Research assistants Fatimah Zaki Almilad, Safa K. AlZuwaid & Rehana S. AL Saeed at Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University, Eastern Province Dammam, Saudi Arabia. For their outstanding and effective efforts in accomplishing this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: HBB, MAR. Performed the experiments: All authors. Analyzed the data: HBB, IA. Contributed materials/analysis tools: MAR, HBB. Wrote the manuscript: All authors. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31,113, Saudi Arabia (approval no. A254701). Written informed consent for the females shared in the study was obtained from their guardians.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.