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Incidence of symptomatic toxoplasma eye disease: aetiology and public health implications.

Gilbert, RE; Dunn, DT; Lightman, S; Murray, PI; Pavesio, CE; Gormley, PD; Masters, J; ... Stanford, MR; + view all (1999) Incidence of symptomatic toxoplasma eye disease: aetiology and public health implications. Epidemiol Infect , 123 (2) 283 - 289. Green open access

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Abstract

Ocular disease is the commonest disabling consequence of toxoplasma infection. Incidence and lifetime risk of ocular symptoms were determined by ascertaining affected patients in a population-based, active reporting study involving ophthalmologists serving a population of 7.4 million. Eighty-seven symptomatic episodes were attributed to toxoplasma infection. Bilateral visual acuity of 6/12 or less was found in seven episodes (8%) and was likely to have been transient in most cases. Black people born in West Africa had a 100-fold higher incidence of symptoms than white people born in Britain. Only two patients reported symptoms before 10 years of age. The estimated lifetime risk of symptoms in British born individuals (52% of all episodes) was 18/100000 (95% confidence interval: 10.8-25.2). The low risk and mild symptoms in an unscreened British population indicate limited potential benefits of prenatal or postnatal screening. The late age at presentation suggests a mixed aetiology of postnatally acquired and congenital infection for which primary prevention may be appropriate, particularly among West Africans.

Type: Article
Title: Incidence of symptomatic toxoplasma eye disease: aetiology and public health implications.
Location: ENGLAND
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstra...
Language: English
Additional information: PMCID: PMC2810761 © 1999 Cambridge University Press
Keywords: Adolescent, Adult, African Americans, African Continental Ancestry Group, Age of Onset, Child, Child, Preschool, England, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Humans, Incidence, Infant, Male, Middle Aged, Public Health, Risk, Toxoplasmosis, Ocular
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Inst of Clinical Trials and Methodology > MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/31960
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