Decline in Ocular Toxoplasmosis over 40 Years at a Tertiary Referral Practice in the United States

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To identify whether there has been a decline in ocular toxoplasmosis at a tertiary uveitis practice.

Methods: Retrospective review of new patients at the University of Illinois Uveitis Service from 1973 to 2012.

Results: There were 6820 patients with adequate records for inclusion; 323 (4.7%) were diagnosed with ocular toxoplasmosis. There was a 78.0% decline in prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis from 2008 to 2012 compared with 1973 to 1977. Compared with the aggregate uveitis population, toxoplasmosis patients were more likely to be Hispanic (p<0.0001) and less likely to be African American (p<0.0001). Ocular toxoplasmosis in Hispanics commonly occurred in foreign-born patients (85.3%).

Conclusions: The diagnosis of ocular toxoplasmosis at our clinic declined, with Hispanics accounting for an increasing proportion of cases. These trends are consistent with the decreasing toxoplasmosis seropositivity in the United States, but may also reflect decreased referrals due to improved management of ocular toxoplasmosis in primary clinics.

Keywords:

• Epidemiology
• ocular infection
• public health
• seroprevalence
• toxoplasmosis

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

FUNDING

This work was supported and funded by Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY (DAG). The sponsor or funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

Meeting Presentation: The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, May 2013.