الفهرس 
AcknowledgmentOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoon parasite able to attack various tissues. The sources of infection are raw or under cooked meat infected with Toxoplasma gondii cysts, and oocysts shed in the feces of infected animals and contaminating soil, sandboxes and other places. Toxoplasmosis can also be transmitted transplacentally. This study was initiated aiming at the determination of the extent of the problem of Toxoplasma infection among the primary school children in a rural area and assessing the effect of the infection on the child’s intellectual development and scholastic achievement. A stratified random sample was chosen from the pupils in Abbis VIII primary school during the scholastic year 1985-1986. The total sample size was 254 child. For the execution of this work, blood DROPs were collected from the examined children on which IRA and IFA tests were performed to determine the percentage of infection. The I.Q.level of the children was determined by Goodenough Cdraw-a-man) test. The scholastic achievement was asses sed by recording the results of the mid year examination of the children. The results obtained in this study could be summarized in the follow ing items: 1- The percentage of Toxoplasma seropositivity was 29.92/0 among the examined children. 2- Age, sex and rank of the child had no significant effect on the occurrence of the disease. 3- The percentage of infection was found!to be affected by the socio economic level of the children where the rate of infection was highest among children belonging to low socio-economic level families(30.8) and lowest among those belonged to high socio-economic families (12.5). 4- Cats played an indirect role in causing infection with toxoplasmosis in rural areas through the contamination of soil by viable oocysts. 5- The percentage of infection was significantly higher among children. whose mothers had history of stillbirths (44.44) than among those whose mothers had negative history. 6- Dog contact did not seem to increase the risk of infection. 7- The I.Q.of the children was significantly affected by the infection as the percentage of Toxoplasma seropositivity was 40.74among child ren with an I.Q. level below 70 and 22.22a/o among those with an IQ level more than 90. 8- The Toxoplasma infection seemed to have a little or no effect on the scholastic achievement of the pupils. The following are the main recommendations given for that study: 1- Conduction of screening test for population at risk particularly women of child bearing age. 2- Notification and registration of all primary, infections during preg~ nancy. 3- Obligatory clinical and serological examination up to the age of at least 10 years of all children born of mothers with a verified pri mary infection during pregnancy. 4- Health education to the public about: food habits that present risk of infection especially the eating of raw or undercooked meat. the important role of cats in the dissemination of the disease. the signs and symptoms of the disease, its complications and its treatment. 4- Avoiding infection of indoor cats by feeding them dried, cooked or canned food. 5- The development of a safe vaccine for cats and man.