 "Acquired infection with Toxoplasma
in immunocompetent individuals is generally an
asymptomatic infection.
 However, 10% to 20% of
patients with acute infection may develop
cervical lymphadenopathy and/or a
flu-like illness. - The clinical course is benign
and self-limited; symptoms usually
resolve within a few months to a year.
- Immunodeficient patients often have
central nervous system (CNS) disease but may have
myocarditis, or pneumonitis.
 In patients with
AIDS, toxoplasmic encephalitis is the
most common cause of intracerebral mass
lesions and is thought to be due to
reactivation of chronic infection. - Toxoplasmosis in patients
being treated with immunosuppressive
drugs may be due to either newly acquired
or reactivated latent infection.
- Congenital toxoplasmosis results from
an acute primary infection acquired by the mother
during pregnancy.
- The incidence and severity
of congenital toxoplasmosis vary with the
trimester during which infection was
acquired.
- Because treatment of the
mother reduces the incidence of
congenital infection, prompt and accurate
diagnosis is extremely important.
- Most infants with
subclinical infection at birth will
subsequently develop signs or symptoms of
congenital toxoplasmosis unless the
infection is treated.
- Ocular Toxoplasma infection,
an important cause of chorioretinitis in the
United States, is usually a result of congenital
infection. Patients are often asymptomatic
until the second or third decade of life, when
lesions develop in the eye." source:
CDC-public domain
- http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/DPDx/HTML/Toxoplasmosis.htm
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