Hearing loss in congenital toxoplasmosis detected by newborn screening

A systematic review of neonatal toxoplasmosis exposure and sensorineural hearing loss

“…1). Of the 72 full text articles reviewed, 5 studies met the inclusion criteria [12,[16][17][18][19] (Table 1).…”

“…Complete information was not forthcoming or in doubt in four articles in which an effort was made to contact the author of the study [6,11,16,17]. Successful contact was made with authors of two studies [6,16].…”

IgG and IgM western blot assay for diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis

“…Twelve infants were excluded from the study because they did not return for blood collection after 12 months for the IgG anti-T. gondii analysis. The children selected for this study were examined to evaluate possible macular (indirect ophthalmoscopy), neurological (transfontanel ultrasound or cranial radiography or computerized cranial tomography in selected cases) and hearing (behavioral evaluation, otoacoustic emissions and PEATE) signals, according to Andrade et al (2008) and Vasconcelos-Santos et al (2009). The protocols conducted in this study were approved by the local Ethical Committee (Federal University of Minas Gerais, protocol 298/06).…”

“…Most infected children do not present characteristic symptoms of the infection at birth, but there is a great risk of severe sequelae occurring during the first year of life or during infancy (Gilbert & Peckham 2002). The absence of diagnosis at birth and consequent delay in treatment can predispose the infected child to macular, hearing and neurological symptoms (Andrade et al 2008, Vasconcelos-Santos et al 2009). Thus, diagnosis of newborn infants with congenital toxoplasmosis must occur as early as possible to initiate treatment to prevent or reduce the clinical manifestations of the disease (McLeod et al 2009).…”

Treatment for congenital toxoplasmosis: finding out what works

“…While Europe and North America argue the ethics and cost effectiveness of marginal benefits of screening programmes, evidence is emerging from high quality, population-based studies in South America that congenital toxoplasmosis is a major public health problem (BahiaOliveira et al 2001, Neto et al 2004, Portela et al 2004, Gomez-Marin et al 2007, Lago et al 2007, Andrade et al 2008. Moreover, these clinician researchers are demonstrating that they can implement neonatal screening and follow up programmes to the high standards of quality that need to be reached before screening can be considered a feasible option.…”