Diagnosis Of Ocular Toxoplasmosis Research Articles

Comparison of immunological and molecular methods for laboratory diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis in blood, serum and tears in Brazil.

Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) is caused by protozoan T. gondii. Ophthalmological examination is considered the gold standard for OT diagnosis, and laboratory tests are used for diagnostic confirmation. However, these tests can present different results, which change depending on their basis, on sample type and on patients' clinical alteration. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess immunodiagnostic and molecular techniques applied in blood, serum and tear fluid to diagnose T. gondii infection in patients seen at an Ophthalmology Clinic. In total, 160 patients were included in the study, 40 of them had OT with active lesions (G1); 40 had OT with healed lesions (G2), 40 had non-toxoplasmic uveitis (G3) and 40 had no ocular alterations (G4). Serum samples were subjected to Immunoenzymatic Assay (ELISA) and to Indirect Immunofluorescence Reaction (IFAT) to search for anti-T. gondii IgM and IgG. Tear fluid samples were analyzed through ELISA for IgA research. All blood and tear fluid samples were subjected to conventional polymerase chain reaction (cPCR) and in a Nested PCR model for T. gondii DNA amplification with targets B1, GRA7 and REP 529. IgG and IgM anti-T. gondii was detected in serum samples from 106 and 15 patients, respectively, when combining ELISA and IFAT results. Anti-T.gondii IgA antibodies were detected in 9.2% of the tear material. Nested PCR with GRA7 target showed higher positivity in blood samples (24.4%); Nested PCR with B1 target showed a higher frequency of positivity in tears (15%). Biological samples of patients with active lesions showed the highest positivity frequencies in all immunodiagnostic assays, as well as in most PCR models. The present results highlighted the need of associating techniques with different fundamentals to confirm OT diagnosis. Furthermore, further tear fluid analyses should be performed to validate this biological material as lesser invasive alternative for the more accurate OT diagnosis.

Unilateral ocular toxoplasmosis associated with acute papillitis

This report describes a rare case of unilateral ocular toxoplasmosis associated with acute papillitis. A 21-year-old male visited the outpatient department with the chief complaint of blurring of vision in the left eye. Based on clinical and laboratory investigation, a diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis with acute papillitis was made. Patient was managed with systemic medication. Improvement in best corrected visual acuity from 20/60 to 20/20 along with resolution of vitritis and disc edema was noted.

Retinal ferroptosis as a critical mechanism for the induction of retinochoroiditis during ocular toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is a major infectious disease, affecting approximately one-third of the world's population; its main clinical manifestation, ocular toxoplasmosis (OT), is a severe sight-threatening disease. Nevertheless, the diagnosis of OT is based on clinical findings, which needs improvement, even with biochemical tests, such as polymerase chain reaction and antibody detections. Furthermore, the efficacy of OT-targeted treatment is limited; thus, additional measures for diagnosis and treatments are needed. Here, we for the first time report a significantly reduced iron concentration in the vitreous humor (VH) of human patients infected with OT. To obtain further insights into molecular mechanisms, we established a mouse model of T. gondii infection, in which intravitreally injected tracer 57Fe, was accumulated in the neurosensory retina. T. gondii-infected eyes showed increased lipid peroxidation, reduction of glutathione peroxidase-4 expression and mitochondrial deformity in the photoreceptor as cristae loss. These findings strongly suggest the involvement of ferroptotic process in the photoreceptor of OT. In addition, deferiprone, an FDA-approved iron chelator, reduced the iron uptake but also ameliorated toxoplasma-induced retinochoroiditis by reducing retinal inflammation. In conclusion, the iron levels in the VH could serve as diagnostic markers and iron chelators as potential treatments for OT.

MiRNA 511_5p is a potential biomarker for ocular toxoplasmosis.

Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) is a frequent clinical manifestation due to infection by Toxoplasma gondii. It is characterized by an inflammatory process involving macrophages activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. The expression of microRNAs takes place during the inflammatory process and, among them, miRNA 511 regulates the activation of macrophages. This study evaluated the expression of miRNA 511_5p in patients with OT and healthy controls. A total of 361 patients from the Hospital de Base of Fundação Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto were enrolled and divided into four groups: G1-patients with active ocular lesions and reagent serology for T. gondii; G2-patients with scars and reagent serology for T. gondii; G3-patients without ocular lesions or scars and reagent serology for T. gondii; G4-patients without ocular lesions or scars and non-reagent serology for T. gondii. All patients underwent clinical and laboratory evaluation to confirm the diagnosis of OT. Serology tests, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed. The miRNA 511_5p levels were compared among the groups. The G1 group showed a high blood plasma concentration of miRNA 511_5p (mean 22.34) compared with the G2 (4.65), G3 (8.91) and G4 (3.52) groups (p<0.0001). These data suggest that miRNA 511_5p has significant potential as a biomarker for OT.

Clinical Characteristics of Ocular Toxoplasmosis Patients

Toxoplasma gondii infection causes posterior uveitis and blindness. The diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis is based on typical clinical findings accompanied by positive anti-Toxoplasma serology. This study aims to see the clinical characteristics of ocular toxoplasmosis patients. Cross-sectional observational descriptive research is done. This study used 2019-2021 medical records from RSUP Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Palembang patients. The highest incidence of ocular toxoplasmosis at RSUP Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Palembang in 2019-2021 occurred in 2021 (54.5%). The most common age range found in this case is the age group of 0-19 years (45.5%) and the majority are women (72.7%). The majority of patients are out of work (45.5%) and live outside Palembang (81.8%). The most lateralization was found in the right eye (63.6%). The most commonly complained clinical symptom is blurred vision (90.9%). Clinical signs were found lesions of retinochoroiditis in the macular (45,5%), in the extramacular (18,2%), chorioretinal scar (90,9%), vitritis (54,5%), decreased visual acuity (100%), and increased IOP (36,4%). Anti-Toxoplasma IgG was found positive in all patients. The highest incidence of ocular toxoplasmosis was found in 2021. The most commonly complained clinical symptom is blurred vision and the most commonly found clinical sign is a decrease in visual acuity.&#x0D;

Diagnostics and treatment of ocular toxoplasmosis : Results of a survey

Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) is the most common infectious cause of posterior uveitis. This survey aimed to evaluate the current diagnostic and therapeutic approach to OT in Germany. Adetailed questionnaire with specific patient examples was sent in July 2021 to the members of the Uveitis Section of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) and the Retinological Society (RG). The questionnaire was answered by 53 (29RG and 24DOG) ophthalmologists. Of the respondents 16 (30%) work in private practice, 18 (34%) in aclinical facility and 19 (36%) in university hospital, 9 (17%) colleagues see < 50, 28 (53%) 50-200 and 16 (30%) more than 200 uveitis patients per year. The clinical results are still the gold standard (87%) for the diagnosis of OT and in cases of first manifestation 60% are supported by serological antibody investigations, while 10out of 53 (19%) ophthalmologists rely on the clinical presentation only. An IgM test is requested by 25 (47%) respondents, 6 expected an increase in IgG titer (11%) and 1 the detection of specific IgA antibodies (2%). The majority (n = 28, 53%) of ophthalmologists would aim at confirming the diagnosis by an anterior chamber puncture, from which 20(38%) prefer PCR, 3(6%) determination of Goldmann-Witmer coefficients (GW) and 5(9%) acombination of both methods. Clindamycin was most frequently used for treatment (n = 21, 40%), followed by pyrimethamine/sulfadiazine (n = 17, 32%) and trimethoprime + sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) (n = 10, 19%); the latter was also used (n = 40, 75%) for secondary prophylaxis. The results show that apart from the clinical results as the gold standard for the diagnosis, there is no uniform approach to diagnosis and treatment of OT. The high request rate for serum IgM antibodies indicates awidespread uncertainty about the importance of serological findings. This should be viewed critically, given the continued high seroprevalence in Germany.

Atypical Form of Ocular Toxoplasmosis

We present the case of a girl, aged 7 years, from rural area, admitted to our clinic with frontal and occipital headache and intermittent ocular pain, which started three weeks before admission; no pathologic antecedents. When admitted, weight=51 kg, height=124 cm (BMI=36.16), no fever but with modified general state, excessive subcutaneous cellular tissue, normal cardio-pulmonary and digestive state, without meningeal symptoms. BP= 90/62 mmHg, HR= 80 b/min.; eye fundus examination at admission: both eyes - papillae with a faded, prominent contour/lineament, multiple hemorrhages with a peripapillary location and several soft exudates (RE &gt; LE), maculae with preserved reflex; diagnosis: papillary edema. Head computed tomography, normal cerebral and cervical spine NMR, and normal aspect in hypophysis NMR; hemogram, renal and hepatic investigations, ionogram, glycaemia – normal values; the TORCH test pointed out increased values for IgM Toxoplasma 1.24 UI/ml (N= 0-0.8) and for IgG Toxoplasma 36.31 UI/ml (n=0-10). We excluded: cerebral edema, malformations, hypophysis or optical chiasma tumors, Arnold-Chiari malformation. We decided for the ocular toxoplasmosis diagnosis and the patient was sent to the infectious disease physician for an antiparasitic treatment. Before starting it, the patient no longer complained of headaches and the eye fundus exam was normal, most likely because of seroconversion, with a decrease of IgM and an increase of IgG Toxoplasmosis, as shown by the TORCH test. The patient remained in our clinic’s evidence, returning for regular ophthalmologic examination, and with a good evolution.

A Trust-Based Methodology to Evaluate Deep Learning Models for Automatic Diagnosis of Ocular Toxoplasmosis from Fundus Images.

In the automatic diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT), Deep Learning (DL) has arisen as a powerful and promising approach for diagnosis. However, despite the good performance of the models, decision rules should be interpretable to elicit trust from the medical community. Therefore, the development of an evaluation methodology to assess DL models based on interpretability methods is a challenging task that is necessary to extend the use of AI among clinicians. In this work, we propose a novel methodology to quantify the similarity between the decision rules used by a DL model and an ophthalmologist, based on the assumption that doctors are more likely to trust a prediction that was based on decision rules they can understand. Given an eye fundus image with OT, the proposed methodology compares the segmentation mask of OT lesions labeled by an ophthalmologist with the attribution matrix produced by interpretability methods. Furthermore, an open dataset that includes the eye fundus images and the segmentation masks is shared with the community. The proposal was tested on three different DL architectures. The results suggest that complex models tend to perform worse in terms of likelihood to be trusted while achieving better results in sensitivity and specificity.

Distinguishing swept-source optical coherence tomography findings in active toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis.

To define the swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) features which distinguish ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) from other forms of retinochoroiditis. This is a prospective diagnostic study enrolling 43 eyes of 43 patients with active toxoplasmic (TOXO) retinochoroiditis matched to 54 eyes (54 lesions) with non-TOXO retinochoroiditis evaluated by structural SS-OCT. The finding of retinal hyper-reflective round deposits, sub-lesional choroidal thickening, and sub-lesional retinal pigment epithelium elevation were more likely to be found in TOXO lesions with a positive likelihood ratio of 45.2 (95% CI: 6.45-316.56), 23.86 (95% CI: 6.09-93.36), and 9.79 (95% CI: 4.22-22.7), respectively. The presence of each of these findings was associated with a high level for positive predictive value (PPV) (88.63-97.29), negative predictive value (NPV) (88.3-92.45), sensitivity (83.72-90.69), and specificity (90.74-98.14). Two-parameter model binary logistic regression suggested that sub-lesional retinal pigment epithelium elevation and sub-lesional choroidal thickening were significant predictors of the diagnosis of OT (Wald = 11.905, p < 0.001; Wald = 14.881, p < 0.001; respectively). By adding hyper-reflective round deposits along the posterior hyaloid or the retinal surface the model improved its performance with very good diagnostic accuracy with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.96 (95% CI: 0.9-0.99) for two parameters model and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.93-0.99) for the three parameters model. Our results show that three OCT findings including retinal hyper-reflective round deposits, sub-lesional choroidal thickening, and sub-lesional retinal pigment epithelium elevation are more likely to occur in OT patients as compared with non-OT patients.

Automatic Diagnosis of Ocular Toxoplasmosis from Fundus Images with Residual Neural Networks.

Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) is commonly diagnosed through the analysis of fundus images of the eye by a specialist. Despite Deep Learning being widely used to process and recognize pathologies in medical images, the diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis(OT) has not yet received much attention. A predictive computational model is a valuable time-saving option if used as a support tool for the diagnosis of OT. It could also help diagnose atypical cases, being particularly useful for ophthalmologists who have less experience. In this work, we propose the use of a deep learning model to perform automatic diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis from images of the eye fundus. A pretrained residual neural network is fine-tuned on a dataset of samples collected at the medical center of Hospital de Clínicas in Asunción, Paraguay. With sensitivity and specificity rates equal to 94% and 93%,respectively, the results show that the proposed model is highly promising. In order to replicate the results and advance further in this area of research, an open data set of images of the eye fundus labeled by ophthalmologists is made available.

Toxoplasmose oculaire : à propos de deux cas

Ocular toxoplasmosis is a frequent disease since it represents the first infectious etiology of the posterior segment of the eye. Its severity is moderate in the majority of patients, but it remains significant in other cases with an engaged visual prognosis. The diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis is essentially based on the demonstration of the local synthesis of antibodies in the aqueous humor. This is not always obvious in Algeria, because the aqueous humor samples taken by ophthalmologists are not done systematically. For example, during the period from January 2008 to December 2016, 504 patients had suspected ocular toxoplasmosis and only 28 samples of aqueous humor were sent to us for this diagnosis. This is carried out by Western blot and by PCR in our laboratory. Thus, during the afore mentioned period, two cases of ocular toxoplasmosis were diagnosed with certainty.

Usefulness of serology in diagnosis of different clinical presentations of ocular toxoplasmosis

Background: Large proportions of acquired cases of ocular toxoplasmosis are reported with atypical presentations. The objectives of the study were to find out whether any correlation existed between serological findings of typical and atypical presentations of ocular toxoplasmosis as compared to cases presenting with non-toxoplasmic uveitis and to find out the proportion of various atypical presentations of ocular toxoplasmosis.Methods: It was a prospective observational study.The study subjects of ocular toxoplasmosis were tested for immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) toxoplasma antibody levels in serum by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) technique. The proportion of atypical presentation among total toxoplasma cases and distribution of atypical cases were calculated. Fisher’s exact test, one-way analysis of variance and Kruskal-wallis test were used as applicable.Results: Among the cases (n=35) thirteen patients had typical presentation of a retinochoroidal focus with an adjacent scar and 22 patients had atypical features. Control group consisted of 24 patients. Various types of presentations in atypical cases were retinitis patch without an adjacent scar (31.8%), intermediate uveitis (27.3%), papillitis (22.7%) retinal vasculitis and dense vitritis (9.09% each). Mean IgG levels in typical cases (85.3±82.9 IU/ml) and atypical cases (47.5±66.2) were significantly higher than control group (6.6±3.4, p&lt;0.001).Conclusions: Serology is a useful tool in the diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis with a compatible clinical picture as serum IgG levels are significantly elevated in both typical and atypical presentations of ocular toxoplasmosis as compared to cases presenting with non-toxoplasmic uveitis.

Biological Diagnosis of Ocular Toxoplasmosis: a Nine-Year Retrospective Observational Study

Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT), i.e., the ocular manifestation of Toxoplasma gondii infection, is one of the leading causes of posterior uveitis. While ocular lesions are often typical, atypical forms often require biological confirmation of the diagnosis. Our study sought to review the biological OT diagnoses made in our laboratory to further assess the role of each test in the diagnostic procedure. All ocular samples sent to our laboratory over the last 9 years for OT diagnosis were included. These samples were analyzed using T. gondii PCR and antibody detection by means of immunoblotting and Candolfi coefficient (CC) determinations, either alone or in combination. Since serum analysis is required to interpret both the CC and immunoblotting, blood serology for T. gondii was also performed in most cases. Of the 249 samples analyzed, 80 (32.1%; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 26.3 to 37.9) were positive for OT. Of these 80 cases, 52/80 (65.0%; 54.6 to 74.5) displayed a positive PCR, 15/80 (18.8%; 10.2 to 27.3) a positive CC, and 33/80 (41.3%; 95%CI, 30.5 to 52.0) a positive immunoblot result. Overall, 63 of the 80 OT diagnoses (78.8%; 95%CI, 69.8 to 87.7) were made on the basis of a single positive test result. Our study results remind us that current biological diagnostic tools for OT must be employed in combination to obtain an optimal diagnosis based on the precious ocular fluids sampled by ophthalmologists. Clinicobiological studies that are focused on correlating the performances of the different tests with clinical features are critically needed to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology and diagnosis of OT.IMPORTANCE Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT), a parasitic infection of the eye, is considered to be the most important infectious cause of posterior uveitis worldwide. Its prevalence is particularly high in South America, where aggressive Toxoplasma gondii strains are responsible for more-severe presentations. The particular pathophysiology of this infection leads, from recurrence to recurrence, to potentially severe vision impairment. The diagnosis of this infection is usually exclusively based on the clinical examination. However, the symptoms may be misleading and are not always sufficient to confirm a diagnosis of OT. In such cases, biological tests performed by means of several techniques on blood and ocular samples may facilitate the diagnosis. In this study, we analyzed the tests that were performed in our laboratory over a 9-year period every time OT was suspected. Our report highlights that the quality of ocular sampling by ophthalmologists and combinations of several techniques are critical for a reliable biological OT diagnosis.

Morphological characteristics of ocular toxoplasmosis and its regression pattern on swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography: a case report

BackgroundTo report the successful treatment of ocular toxoplasmosis and present the use of multimodal imaging to describe the changes in ocular toxoplasmic lesions subsequent to treatment.Case presentationA 73-year-old female visited the clinic with decreased visual acuity in the left eye. Fundus examination showed severe vitreous haze with yellow-white infiltrates near the foveal center. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) revealed disorganization of the retinal structure with markedly thickened choroid beneath the active lesion. Highly elevated serum titers of IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii were observed. Topical and systemic steroids with oral Bactrim were administered after a diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis was made. After improvement in the severity of vitritis, structural en face swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) imaging demonstrated diffuse choroidal dilation with many collateral vascular branches surrounding the active lesion. Eight intravitreal injections of clindamycin (1 mg/0.1 ml) were administered at 1- to 2-week intervals along with systemic antibiotics and steroids. After the treatment, the toxoplasmic lesion resolved to an atrophic chorioretinal scar. Dilated choroidal vessel size was normalized and collateral vascular branches were markedly constricted on structural en face SS-OCT images.ConclusionsThis is the first detailed report on the morphological changes in the choroidal vasculature surrounding ocular toxoplasmic lesions that were characterized using SS-OCT-A imaging. Multimodal imaging with SS-OCT-A can be valuable in clinical diagnosis as well as in clarifying the mechanism of choroidal structural changes in ocular toxoplasmosis.

Coinfections and differential diagnosis in immunocompetent patients with uveitis of infectious origin

BackgroundMaking a definite diagnosis of infectious uveitis is a challenging task because many other infectious, and non-infectious uveitis, may have similar non-specific symptoms and overlapping clinical appearances. Co-infections in immunocompetent patients are not frequently proved with traditional serologic-diagnostic tools.MethodsDescriptive transversal study, in a Uveitis Service of an Ophthalmology Reference Center, in Bogotá, Colombia, from July 2014 to February 2016. Aqueous humor (AH) and/or vitreous fluid, blood and serum samples were collected from consecutive patients suspected of having infectious uveitis. The diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) was confirmed by the Goldmann–Witmer coefficient (GWC) and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Differential diagnosis by PCR in AH was done for viral origin such as Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2), Varicella zoster virus (VZV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.ResultsIn 66 Colombian patients with uveitis of presumed infectious origin: 22 (33.3%) were confirmed as OT, 16 (24.2%) as undetermined OT, five (7.5%) as co-infections and 23 (34.8%) as other uveitis. Toxoplasma coinfection with M. tuberculosis was identified in one case by PCR and in four cases with HSV by GWC. The initial clinical diagnosis changed, after laboratory examination, in 21 cases (31.8%).ConclusionsClinical diagnosis can be changed by laboratory examination in a significant proportion of cases of uveitis. Diagnosis of OT should combine the use of PCR and GWC to reach the maximum of confirmation of cases. The use of multiple laboratory methods is necessary to identify co-infections and viral infections that can mimic OT in immunocompetent patients.

Regional Differences in the Clinical Manifestation of Ocular Toxoplasmosis Between the Center and Northeast of Argentina

ABSTRACTPurpose: To compare the clinical characteristics of patients with active episodes of ocular toxoplasmosis from three provinces, Misiones, Santa Fe, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis from three databases of four tertiary referral uveitis centers were reviewed. Collected data included presentation of the retinochoroiditis, location of the active lesions, associated inflammatory ocular signs and complications.Results: Three hundred thirty-four patients were included in this study. Bilateral involvement of the ocular disease occurred in 26 patients in Misiones (35.14%), 21 patients (12.8%) in Santa Fe, and 9 patients in Buenos Aires (9.4%) (p < 0.001). Extensive retinitis was observed in 49 patients (66.2%) in Misiones, 39 patients (23.8%) in Santa Fe, and 12 patients (12.5%) in Buenos Aires (p < 0.001).Conclusion: The results indicate that there are differences in the clinical characteristics of ocular toxoplasmosis in patients from Misiones, Santa Fe, and Buenos Aires.

Decline in Ocular Toxoplasmosis over 40 Years at a Tertiary Referral Practice in the United States

ABSTRACTPurpose: To identify whether there has been a decline in ocular toxoplasmosis at a tertiary uveitis practice.Methods: Retrospective review of new patients at the University of Illinois Uveitis Service from 1973 to 2012.Results: There were 6820 patients with adequate records for inclusion; 323 (4.7%) were diagnosed with ocular toxoplasmosis. There was a 78.0% decline in prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis from 2008 to 2012 compared with 1973 to 1977. Compared with the aggregate uveitis population, toxoplasmosis patients were more likely to be Hispanic (p<0.0001) and less likely to be African American (p<0.0001). Ocular toxoplasmosis in Hispanics commonly occurred in foreign-born patients (85.3%).Conclusions: The diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis at our clinic declined, with Hispanics accounting for an increasing proportion of cases. These trends are consistent with the decreasing toxoplasmosis seropositivity in the United States, but may also reflect decreased referrals due to improved management of ocular toxoplasmosis in primary clinics.

Cuban Ocular Toxoplasmosis Epidemiology Study (COTES): Clinical Features in 279 Patients from Central Cuba

Purpose: To characterize the clinical features of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) in Central Cuba. Methods: A database at a large regional referral center was searched for patients who, from April 1, 2011 to May 31, 2013, had the potential diagnosis of OT. Inclusion criteria were the clinical diagnosis of OT, characterized by focal retinochoroidal inflammation.

Clinical and epidemiological aspects of toxoplasmosis in patients with vision problems

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide disease; it can cause decreased vision or even blindness. The route of transmission in humans may vary according to the habits of the region; probably the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat is the main source of infection. To determine the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in an eye clinic, the frequency of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) and risk habits for acquiring the infection. Adult patients consulting in the Retina Department of the Teaching Hospital of the National University of Asuncion, Paraguay between August and September, 2014 were included. Prior informed consent, socio-demographic and epidemiological data related to T. gondii infection were obtained. In addition a blood sample for the determination of anti T. gondii IgG antibodies by the ELISA method was taken and ophthalmologic evaluation for the diagnosis of OT was made. A total of 80 patients with mean ± SD age of 53 ± 20 years were studied, with slight predominance of women (55%). The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis was 84% (67/80) and OT was detected in 8.9% of the 67 seropositive persons. The habit of not washing vegetables with sodium hypochlorite and eat meat from wild animals was related to higher risk of infection in this population. It is important to conduct research at the population level to establish the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in our country. Information on prophylactic measures to prevent infection by T. gondii should be given to the population.

Cuban Ocular Toxoplasmosis Epidemiology Study (COTES): incidence and prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis in Central Cuba

BackgroundSerological studies indicate that rates of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) vary geographically, with higher rates in tropical regions. Little is known about population-based rates of active OT. We aimed to describe...