The prevalence of T. gondii infection varies among different populations and different studies, e.g., 15.8% of Americans in 1999-2000 (3-70% in other studies) vs. 87% of French are seropositive as adults. (Do the French eat more undercooked meats?) About 1-2% of people in the U.S. seroconvert to T. gondii each year.

Symptoms of acute infection: (although less than 20% of infections are clinically evident)

• fever
• lymphadenopathy (especially cervical nodes)
• malaise
• myalgia
• rash
• hepatosplenomegaly
• chorioretinitis

The disease in immunocompetent individuals is usually self-limiting, but more serious causes of lymphadenopathy must be ruled out. In addition, there are reports of severe, acute toxoplasmosis, possibly associated with specific strains of the organism (Carme et al., 2002).

• A series of studies (as reviewed by Torrey and Yolken, 2003) have suggested that some cases of schizophrenia may be linked to infection with Toxoplasma gondii. This conclusion is based primarily on higher rates of seropositivity to Toxoplasma gondii in schizophrenia patients compared to controls, also on the fact that alterations in neurotransmitters in animal studies of Toxoplasma infection may be similar to those in human schizophrenic patients.

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