Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the possible association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and latent Toxoplasma gondii infection in a group of patients and healthy individuals. Blood samples were obtained from 269 PCR-positive COVID-19 patients. The serum was separated and tested for the existence of anti-T. gondii antibodies (IgG) using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis between a subgroup of the patients (aged under 55 years old) and COVID-19 negative individuals was compared. Anti-T. gondii antibodies were found in 226/269 (84.0%) patients with COVID-19. Anti-Toxoplasma antibodies were detected in 72/91 (79.1%) cases and 96/123 (78.0%) COVID-19 negative individuals (odd ratio = 1.1; 95% confidence interval: 0.55-2.07, P = 0.85). The median and interquartile range (IQR) of the IgG titer were not statistically significant different between case (97.3 [31.0-133.5]) and control groups (34.4 [13.0-144.5]) (P = 0.10). These findings demonstrated that latent Toxoplasma infection is prevalent amongst the COVID-19 patients. It also did not find any significant association between chronic toxoplasmosis and COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; Seroprevalence; T. gondii; Toxoplasmosis.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Seroprevalence, T. gondii, Toxoplasmosis., 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, IgG, Coronavirus disease 2019, antibody, Seroprevalence, Infection, Prevalence, serum, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Patient, COVID-19 patients, association, Toxoplasma gondii, interquartile range, Toxoplasma, control group, 95% confidence interval, Blood samples, healthy individuals, individual, blood sample, control groups, median and interquartile range, prevalent, enzyme-linked immunosorbent, toxoplasmosis, tested, evaluate, the patient, median, demonstrated, statistically significant, separated, COVID-19 negative, IQR, patients with COVID-19, PCR-positive COVID-19 patients,