Original articleCongenital Toxoplasmosis in Southeastern Brazil: Results of Early Ophthalmologic Examination of a Large Cohort of Neonates
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This study is part of a prospective investigation on neonatal screening for CT in the Brazilian state of MG. It is being carried out by a multidisciplinary research group (UFMG-Congenital Toxoplasmosis Brazilian Group) under the coordination of one of the authors (GMQ-A). The study protocol followed the precepts of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee at our institution (Ethics Commitee at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais).
From November 1, 2006, to May 31,
Results
A total of 146,307 newborns were screened during the 6-month period (November 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007), corresponding to approximately 95% of the live births in the state of MG during those months. Of these screened babies, 235 had suspected CT and, along with their mothers, underwent confirmative serology. Infection was confirmed in 190 cases, corresponding to a prevalence of 1 in 770 liveborn infants.
Among the 45 cases that were not confirmed, 35 (77.8%) had the infection ruled out because
Discussion
The prevalence of CT (1/770 live births) is higher in the present study than in most other reported series in the rest of the world19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and in Brazil.13, 14, 15, 16, 17 These few published reports on the prevalence of CT in Brazil13, 14, 15, 16, 17 have involved limited geographic areas and had selection and referral bias that may limit interpretation and extrapolation of the resultant data. In contrast, our study had coverage of approximately 95% of liveborn infants in a large
Study Limitations
A neonatal screening strategy using detection of IgM may underestimate the prevalence of CT by missing fetal losses and perinatal/early neonatal deaths (which are rare), as well as by false-negative cases, which may be reflected by the smaller number of newborns who were infected in the first gestational trimester45, 46 (and who may ultimately have more severe disease). However, neonatal screening offers the advantages of lower cost and relative simplicity, and thereby allows the study of large
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Congenital toxoplasmosis: Should we still care about screening?
2022, Food and Waterborne ParasitologyThe congenital toxoplasmosis burden in Brazil: Systematic review and meta-analysis
2020, Acta TropicaCitation Excerpt :The estimated global incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) is of 190,100 annual cases; this corresponds to an incidence rate of approximately 1.5 cases in 1,000 live births (Torgerson and Mastroiacovo, 2013). In Brazil, the reported prevalence ranges from 0.3 cases to 3.4/1,000 live births (da Silva et al., 2015), and studies have estimated that approximately 35% of children had neurological disease including hydrocephalus, microcephaly and mental retardation; 80% had ocular lesions, and in one report 40% of children had hearing loss (Andrade et al., 2008; Carellos et al., 2017; Vasconcelos-Santos et al., 2009). Brazil is a vast country with remarkable differences in socioeconomic and health care conditions.
Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations in pediatric uveitis
2024, Spektrum der Augenheilkunde
Manuscript no. 2008-1484.
Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
Financial support provided by Secretaria do Estado de Saúde de Minas Gerais, Brazil.