Background: The unique single-stranded RNA virus COVID-19 is
to blame for the initial viral pneumonia outbreak in China that
quickly turned into a pandemic. The "immune exhaustion" which
flares up viral multiplication and hasty clinical results, is one of the
primary criteria of the immune response against COVID-19 and
also, it is a common side effect of chronic infections with
Toxoplasma gondii. The severity of COVID-19 could possibly be
increased by the toxoplasmosis-associated immune depletion by
making it worse. Aim of study: Our goal was to ascertain the
prevalence of coinfection with latent toxoplasmosis in COVID 19
positive patients as well as its impact on the progression of the
infection and the fate of the disease. Patients &Methods: 50
patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 infection were recruited
for this cross sectional cohort prospective study at Benha
university hospitals. They underwent Toxoplasma IgG testing by
ELISA and had their conditions monitored to assess the COVID-19
infection's outcome. Results: Toxoplasma IgG seropositivity was
found in 29(58%) patients while history of animal contact was
48.3% and 38.1% in both IgG positive and negative groups
respectively. Toxoplasma Positive group showed higher incidence
of: long hospital stay (20.7±7.3), ICU admission (72.4%), need for ventilation (55.3%), and more lung affection and sever CT findings (24.1%) and higher death rate (10.3%). All these previous differences were statistically
significant. Conclusion: The concurrent latent toxoplasmosis infection in (SARS-CoV-2)
patients was linked to a more severe course and a worse result of COVID-19 infection.