Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis infection is rare. It can be transmitted to humans by animal vectors.

T. gondii, an intracellular protozoan, is estimated to have infected one third of the world’s population. It has been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of six neglected parasitic diseases in the United States. The parasite is commonly acquired by ingesting viable organisms in food, water, or soil. Up to half of patients with acute toxoplasmosis have no reported risk factors. In immunocompetent hosts, the infection is typically either asymptomatic or a self-limited mononucleosis-like illness. In immunocompromised hosts (e.g., persons with AIDS, those who have received a hematopoietic stem-cell or solid-organ transplant, or those who use immune-suppressing medications), T. gondii can cause a spectrum of clinical manifestations from fever to multiorgan failure. As compared with central nervous system involvement (which is well recognized in immunosuppressed patients with toxoplasmosis), pulmonary involvement is less commonly diagnosed. First-line treatment for severe toxoplasmosis involves pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine, and folinic acid. Availability of these drugs can vary at U.S. hospitals. Intravenous trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole is used when first-line options are not accessible. [1]

Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular protozoan, is estimated to have infected one third of the world’s population. In immunocompetent hosts, the infection is typically either asymptomatic or a self-limited mononucleosis-like illness. The parasite is commonly acquired by ingesting viable organisms in food, water, or soil. Disseminated toxoplasmosis is rare as a cause of pneumonia in immunocompetent persons. Symptomatic T. gondii infections in immunocompetent patients may be associated with lymphadenopathy, myalgias, and rash.[1]