Latent and Reactivated Toxoplasma Gondii Infection in HIV-Infected Patients in Albania

Toxoplasmosis, which is caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is one of the most common parasitic infections of humans and warm blooded animals. The Toxoplasma Encephalitis (TE) is one of the most frequent opportunist infections and as a consequence the most important cause of cerebral focal lesions in HIV/AIDS patients, because of the reactivation of the latent infection. Purpose To provide data on the prevalence of Toxoplazmosis in HIV/AIDS patients hospitalized and followed in our outpatient clinic and Infectious Diseases Service and to recognize the clinical, preclinical, therapeutic features of cases. Materials and methods From 157 subjects with HIV/AIDS who were filled with ELISA IgM/IgG T. gondii antibodies, we studied 92 cases which had the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG. Results The seroprevalence of Toxoplasmosis in HIV patients in our study resulted 58.59 %. In 92 positive cases for IgG antibodies, 33.69 % were females and 66.30 % were males. We found that the most number of patients (44.56 %) had finished elementary school. Most of cases belonged to age group 35-45 years old (40.21 %). We found higher positivity for IgG antibodies (39.13 %) in the emigrated patients. Toxoplasmic encephalitis found in 23 subjects with AIDS. T. gondii IgG antibodies were positive in 23 cases. The mean CD4 cell count was 51.73 cells/