Abstract
BackgroundLatent toxoplasmosis, i.e. a lifelong infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, affects about a third of the human population worldwide. In the past 10 years, numerous studies have shown that infected individuals have a significantly higher incidence of mental and physical health problems and are more prone to exhibiting the adverse effects of various diseases.MethodsA cross-sectional internet study was performed on a population of 4499 (786 Toxoplasma-infected) participants and looked for factors which positively or negatively affect the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and likelihood of a severe course of COVID-19.ResultsLogistic regression and partial Kendall correlation controlling for sex, age, and size of the place of residence showed that latent toxoplasmosis had the strongest effect on the risk of infection (OR = 1.50) before sport (OR = 1.30) and borreliosis (1.27). It also had the strongest effect on the risk of severe course of infection (Tau = 0.146), before autoimmunity, immunodeficiency, male sex, keeping a cat, being overweight, borreliosis, higher age, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Toxoplasmosis augmented the adverse effects of other risk factors but was not the proximal cause of the effect of cat-keeping on higher likelihood of COVID infection and higher severity of the course of infection because the effect of cat-keeping was also observed (and in particular) in a subset of Toxoplasma-infected respondents (Tau = 0.153). Effects of keeping a cat were detected only in respondents from multi-member families, suggesting that a cat could be a vector for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within a family.ConclusionsToxoplasmosis is currently not considered a risk factor for COVID-19, and Toxoplasma-infected individuals are neither informed about their higher risk nor prioritised in vaccination programs. Because toxoplasmosis affects a large segment of the human population, its impact on COVID-19-associated effects on public health could be considerable.Graphical abstract
Highlights
Latent toxoplasmosis, i.e. a lifelong infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, affects about a third of the human population worldwide
The results showed that disabilityadjusted life years (DALYs) for 23 out of 128 diseases and disease categories correlated with the prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis in individual countries even after controlling for per capita gross domestic product (GDP), latitude, and humidity
The results showed that many factors taken into consideration in this study had a much stronger effect on the risk of severe course of COVID in Toxoplasma-infected participants than in those who were Toxoplasma-free: borreliosis (Tau = 0.212 vs 0.010), being overweight (Tau = 0.140 vs 0.089), cardiovascular diseases (Tau = 0.170 vs 0.049), asthma (Tau = 0.133 vs 0.039), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Tau = 0.219 vs 0.013), allergy (Tau = 0.089 vs 0.012), Table 3 Symptoms of COVID-19 in Toxoplasma-infected and Toxoplasma-free participants
Summary
I.e. a lifelong infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, affects about a third of the human population worldwide. About one-third of the world’s population is infected with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. A short phase of acute toxoplasmosis spontaneously resolves into a latent phase. The bradyzoites in cysts, can be reactivated into rapidly dividing tachyzoites in immunocompromised individuals, for example in AIDS patients or persons after transplantation or anticancer treatment [2]. This can result in the formation of brain lesions and, if untreated, lead to fatal toxoplasmic encephalitis [3]
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