Toxoplasmosis is a risk factor for acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection and a severe course of COVID-19 in the Czech and Slovak population: a preregistered exploratory internet cross-sectional study

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00023752%3A_____%2F21%3A43920758" target="_blank" >RIV/00023752:_____/21:43920758 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:11310/21:10443071

Result on the web

<a href="https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-021-05021-9" target="_blank" >https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-021-05021-9</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-021-05021-9" target="_blank" >10.1186/s13071-021-05021-9</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Toxoplasmosis is a risk factor for acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection and a severe course of COVID-19 in the Czech and Slovak population: a preregistered exploratory internet cross-sectional study

Original language description

Background: Latent toxoplasmosis, i.e. a lifelong infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, affects about a third of the human population worldwide. In the past 10 years, numerous studies have shown that infected individuals have a significantly higher incidence of mental and physical health problems and are more prone to exhibiting the adverse effects of various diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional internet study was performed on a population of 4499 (786 Toxoplasma-infected) participants and looked for factors which positively or negatively affect the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and likelihood of a severe course of COVID-19. Results: Logistic regression and partial Kendall correlation controlling for sex, age, and size of the place of residence showed that latent toxoplasmosis had the strongest effect on the risk of infection (OR = 1.50) before sport (OR = 1.30) and borreliosis (1.27). It also had the strongest effect on the risk of severe course of infection (Tau = 0.146), before autoimmunity, immunodeficiency, male sex, keeping a cat, being overweight, borreliosis, higher age, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Toxoplasmosis augmented the adverse effects of other risk factors but was not the proximal cause of the effect of cat-keeping on higher likelihood of COVID infection and higher severity of the course of infection because the effect of cat-keeping was also observed (and in particular) in a subset of Toxoplasma-infected respondents (Tau = 0.153). Effects of keeping a cat were detected only in respondents from multi-member families, suggesting that a cat could be a vector for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within a family. Conclusions: Toxoplasmosis is currently not considered a risk factor for COVID-19, and Toxoplasma-infected individuals are neither informed about their higher risk nor prioritised in vaccination programs. Because toxoplasmosis affects a large segment of the human population, its impact on COVID-19-associated effects on public health could be considerable.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

30310 - Parasitology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA18-13692S" target="_blank" >GA18-13692S: Conservation of Rh Polymorphism in Modern Humans through Selection Favoring Heterozygotes – The Influence of the Genotype on Fertility and Viability</a><br>

Continuities

V - Vyzkumna aktivita podporovana z jinych verejnych zdroju

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Parasites &amp; Vectors

ISSN

1756-3305

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

14

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

"Article Number: 508"

UT code for WoS article

000701057100004

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85115849433