Editorial commentary: High burden of congenital toxoplasmosis in the United States: The strain hypothesis?

摘要

Rima McLeod, the leading author of an article published in this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases , has accumulated a unique and remarkable database on congenital toxoplasmosis in the United States through the National Collaborative Chicago-based Congenital Toxoplasmosis Study (NCCCTS), which began in 1981 and continues to date. In a recent study , she and colleagues at the reference Palo Alto Medical Foundation Toxo-plasma Serology Laboratory (PAMF-TSL) revealed that severe clinical signs of congenital toxoplasmosis, including hy-drocephalus, eye disease, or intracranial calcifications, occurred in 84% of 116 infants from birth to 180 days of age who had laboratory confirmation of congenital toxoplasmosis and in whom clinical information was available during a period of 15 years in the United States.