Positive Toxoplasma IgG Serology Is Associated with Increased Overall Mortality - A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

Toxoplasma gondii is a prevalent parasitic disease with significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised populations. We lack long-term outcomes for latent infections. We aimed to elucidate the relationship between latent T.

Toxoplasmosis and Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prevalence and Associations and Future Directions.

Background: A potential link between toxoplasmosis with schizophrenia (SCZ) has been extensively studied over the past 2 decades. Our study was aimed to determine whether, beyond an association, the field is primed for randomized clinical trials of anti- prophylaxis in seropositive patients with SCZ.

Methods: We performed a methodological appraisal of toxoplasmosis-SCZ association studies, a meta-analysis, and a compilation of claims and pathophysiologic hypotheses.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults and Severe Toxoplasmosis: Similar Clinical Presentations, Potentially Severe Outcomes.

We report a case of a 21-year-old previously healthy man who developed severe toxoplasmosis with chorioretinitis and myositis 2 months after receiving corticosteroids for presumed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults, in the setting of a recently acquired acute infection, likely during a trip to Latin America.

Late Diagnosis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis with Macrocephaly in Dizygotic Twins after Incidental Detection of Leukocoria: A Case Report.

Untreated congenital toxoplasmosis remains an important cause of neurologic and ocular disease worldwide. However, congenitally infected infants may not have signs and symptoms their physicians recognize, leading to delayed diagnosis and missed opportunities for treatment. We describe a pair of twins diagnosed with congenital toxoplasmosis at 11 months of age following incidental detection of leukocoria in one twin.

Quantification of antibody avidities and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in serum and saliva on plasmonic substrates.

Accurate assays for the detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) are essential for the control of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Here, we report antibody and antibody-avidity assays, relying on near-infrared-fluorescence amplification by nanostructured plasmonic gold substrates, for the simultaneous detection of antibodies to the S1 subunit of the spike protein and to the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 in human serum and saliva, and for quantifying immunoglobulin avidities against coronavirus antigens from SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and the common-cold viruses OC43, HKU1, NL63 and 229E. The antibody assay detected immunoglobulin M in 87% (52 of 60) COVID-19-positive serum samples collected 6 or more days after symptom onset (and the immunoglobulins M and G in all 33 samples collected at least 15 days after symptom onset), and correctly classified 456 out of the 457 COVID-19-negative serum samples tested (424 of them collected before the pandemic, including 73 that were positive for other viruses).

Toxoplasmosis Outbreak Associated With Toxoplasma gondii-Contaminated Venison-High Attack Rate, Unusual Clinical Presentation, and Atypical Genotype.

Background: During 2017, in response to a physician's report, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, began investigating an outbreak of febrile illness among attendees of a retreat where never frozen, intentionally undercooked, locally harvested venison was served. Preliminary testing tentatively identified the illness as toxoplasmosis.

Methods: Confirmatory human serology panels and testing of the venison to confirm and categorize the presence and type of Toxoplasma gondii were completed by French and American national reference laboratories.

Is Real-Time PCR Targeting Rep 529 Suitable for Diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis in Patients Infected with Non-Type II Strains in North America?

DNA detection is essential to antenatally diagnose a congenital infection and reactivation of a past infection in an immunocompromised patient. Initially, PCR methods targeted the 35-fold repetitive B1 gene, and more recently, coding sequence Rep 529 has been preferred, as it was reported to be repeated 200- to 300-fold and yielded far better sensitivity than amplification of the B1 sequence. To date, few data are available in regard to the efficacy of Rep 529 for non-type II genotypes.

Outcomes of patients with infection related to a ventricular assist device after heart transplantation.

Background: Despite significant advances in durable mechanical support survival, infectious complications remain the most common adverse event after ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation and the leading cause of early death after transplantation. In this study, we aim to describe our local infectious epidemiology and review short-term survival and infectious incidence rates in the post-transplantation period and assess risk factors for infectious episodes after transplantation.

Methods: Retrospective single-center study of all consecutive adult heart transplant patients from 2008 to 2017.

Dual-target, real-time PCR for the diagnosis of intraocular infections.

Background: is the most common infectious cause of posterior uveitis worldwide. Two multicopy targets (B1 and Rep529) are commonly used in PCR assays, but studies evaluating these targets in ocular fluid samples are limited. Herein, we determine the analytical characteristics of a single-reaction, internally controlled, dual-target, real-time PCR and evaluate the clinical performance of this assay in intraocular fluid samples obtained at a reference ophthalmologic centre in the USA.

Acute Dissemination With Encephalitis in the Era of Biological Therapies.

We report the case of a 65-year-old patient with pseudolymphoma who developed acute toxoplasmosis following 6 cycles of rituximab and bendamustine therapy. Acute toxoplasmosis in the setting of biological response modifiers, rather than reactivation, is a unique unreported infection. The patient developed severe disease with multi-organ involvement, including retinitis, myocarditis, and myositis.

Evaluation of Three Point-of-Care Tests for Detection of Immunoglobulin IgG and IgM in the United States: Proof of Concept and Challenges.

Background: The cost of conventional serological testing for toxoplasmosis discourages universal adoption of prenatal monthly screening programs to prevent congenital toxoplasmosis. Point-of-care (POC) technology may constitute a cost-effective approach.

Methods: We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of 3 POC tests against gold-standard testing performed at Palo Alto Medical Foundation Serology Laboratory (PAMF-TSL).

Genetic Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii DNA Samples Isolated From Humans Living in North America: An Unexpected High Prevalence of Atypical Genotypes.

Background: Whereas in Europe most of Toxoplasma gondii genotypes belong to the type II lineage, in Latin America, type II is rare and atypical strains predominate. In North America, data on T. gondii genotypes in humans are scarce.

Toxoplasmosis in the non-orthotopic heart transplant recipient population, how common is it? Any indication for prophylaxis?

Purpose Of Review: Unlike in orthotopic heart transplant (OHT) setting where toxoplasma prophylaxis is a standard practice in pretransplant toxoplasma seronegative recipients who have received donor hearts from seropositive donors (D+/R-), there is no consensus regarding prophylaxis in non-OHT recipients.

Recent Findings: The incidence of toxoplasma disease in non-OHT recipients is less than 1% but its true burden is underestimated. Among 31 cases of toxoplasma disease reported from 2004 through 2017, renal and liver transplant recipients comprised of 90% of cases.

Prevention of infectious diseases in patients with Good syndrome.

Purpose Of Review: Good syndrome is a profoundly immunocompromising condition with heterogeneous immune deficits characterized by the presence of thymoma, low-to-absent B-lymphocyte counts, hypogammaglobulinemia, and impaired cell-mediated immunity. Opportunistic infectious diseases associated with Good syndrome represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, given their protean clinical manifestations. Although these infectious complications have been reviewed in prior publications, recommendations regarding their prevention have been lacking.

A Case of Meningococcal Pyomyositis in an Otherwise Healthy Adult.

The clinical spectrum of can range from nasopharyngeal colonization to life-threatening invasive diseases such as meningitis. However, its etiologic role in invasive pyomyositis (PM) has never been reported before in the English language. In this study, we report the first case of PM in the English language and the second case in the literature caused by .

Laboratory Diagnosis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis.

Recent studies have demonstrated that screening and treatment for toxoplasmosis during gestation result in a decrease of vertical transmission and clinical sequelae. Early treatment was associated with improved outcomes. Thus, laboratory methods should aim for early identification of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis (CT).

Failure of primary atovaquone prophylaxis for prevention of toxoplasmosis in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

The efficacy of primary prophylaxis with atovaquone in preventing Toxoplasma reactivation and disease in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients is unknown. We describe 2 cases of atovaquone prophylaxis failure in pre-HCT Toxoplasma-seropositive (pre-HCTSP) recipients who underwent allogeneic HCT (allo-HCT) and review the literature on atovaquone prophylaxis in HCT recipients.

Significance of a Positive Toxoplasma Immunoglobulin M Test Result in the United States.

A positive Toxoplasma immunoglobulin M (IgM) result is often interpreted as a marker of an acute infection. However, IgM can persist for several years, and Toxoplasma commercial IgM diagnostic test kits can yield a number of false-positive results. For these reasons, a chronic Toxoplasma infection can be erroneously classified as an acute infection, resulting in serious adverse consequences, especially in pregnant women, leading to emotional distress and unnecessary interventions, including termination of pregnancy.

Toxoplasma prophylaxis in haematopoietic cell transplant recipients: a review of the literature and recommendations.

Purpose Of Review: Toxoplasmosis in haematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Prophylaxis following HCT is recommended for high-risk pre-HCT toxoplasma-seropositive (pre-HCTSP) recipients. However, there is no agreement or consistency among programmes on whether to adopt prophylaxis or not, or if used, on the chosen antitoxoplasma prophylactic regimen.