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Unrecognized Ingestion of Toxoplasma gondii Oocysts Leads to Congenital Toxoplasmosis and Causes Epidemics in North America

2011; Oxford University Press; Volume: 53; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/cid/cir667

1537-6591

K. M. Boyer, Dolores E. Hill, Ernest Mui, Kristen Wroblewski, Theodore Karrison, J. P. Dubey, Mari Sautter, A. Gwendolyn Noble, Shawn Withers, Charles N. Swisher, Peter Heydemann, Tiffany Hosten, Jane Babiarz, David Lee, Petra Meier, Rima McLeod,

Cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus research

Background. Congenital toxoplasmosis presents as severe, life-altering disease in North America. If mothers of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis could be identified by risks, it would provide strong support for educating pregnant women about risks, to eliminate this disease. Conversely, if not all risks are identifiable, undetectable risks are suggested. A new test detecting antibodies to sporozoites demonstrated that oocysts were the predominant source of Toxoplasma gondii infection in 4 North American epidemics and in mothers of children in the National Collaborative Chicago-based Congenital Toxoplasmosis Study (NCCCTS). This novel test offered the opportunity to determine whether risk factors or demographic characteristics could identify mothers infected with oocysts.