Ocular Toxoplasmosis in Africa: A Narrative Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To present a narrative review about ocular toxoplasmosis epidemiology, disease burden and prevalent African parasitic strains.

Methods

An initial search for MeSH terms was conducted with a posterior advanced search in two electronic databases. Full text reading was performed.

Results

Animal African studies have identified Toxoplasma gondii type II, type III, Africa 1, and Africa 3 strains. Seroprevalence varies from 6.4% to 74.5%. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of epidemiology and serotyping information about ocular toxoplasmosis. African studies have demonstrated that uveitis patients present high frequencies of ocular toxoplasmosis. There is a lack of studies describing specific clinical characteristics, which can be related, to environmental and socioeconomic factors, parasite serotype and genotype, and genetic susceptibility of the host.

Conclusion

As Toxoplasma gondii has more virulent strains in the Southern hemisphere, it is relevant to determine African strain types and the correlation between the infecting strains and the clinical manifestations.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• Toxoplasma
• ocular Toxoplasmosis
• epidemiology
• risk Factors

Acknowledgments

No acknowledgements to be made.

Authorship

All authors attest that they meet the current ICMJE criteria for Authorship.

Declaration of interest

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

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received to carry out this report.