THE PROBABILITY OF ACQUIRING PRIMARY TOXOPLASMA INFECTION IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS - RESULTS OF AN 8-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

There is much hope that HN-infected patients and AIDS patients can rec kon with a prolonged survival in future. The increased survival of AID S patients with positive Toxoplasma serology is not necessarily associ ated with an increased risk of developing Toxoplasma encephalitis. For HIV-infected patients with negative Toxoplasma serology, the probabil ity of acquiring a primary Toxoplasma infection in highly endemic area s such as Germany had not been studied to date. One hundred eighty-thr ee HIV-infected patients were followed up between 1987 and 1995 in a r etrospective study. Within the cohort, 95% of the patients were male a nd 83% haemophiliacs. The initial (1987) and final (1995) prevalence r ate of Toxoplasma antibodies was 33.3% and 36.6%, respectively. The an nual rise of the primary infection rate was calculated as 0.41%. The d ye test was used for the detection of Toxoplasma-specific antibodies. This assay proved to be reliable and stable during long-term observati on. The rate of primary tosoplasmosis found in this long-term study wa s not higher than that of pregnant women in Germany. Chemoprophylactic measurements for seronegative HIV-infected patients are therefore not recommended, but regular serological screening to detect seroconverte rs is.