AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM OF TOXOPLASMOSIS AND PNEUMOCYSTOSIS IN AIDS IN THE USA - IMPLICATION FOR FUTURE THERAPEUTIC TRIALS

By the end of 1989, 18,518 cases of Pneumocystis carinii infection and 5,614 cases of Toxoplasma gondii infection were reported to the Centers for Disease Control as the AIDS indicator disease. Pneumocystosis did not vary according to gender, race or risk factors; whereas toxoplasmosis was more common in black males with no known risk factors. Immigrants to the USA from Africa, Latin America and Haiti are three to four times more likely to develop toxoplasmic encephalitis than American-born patients with AIDS. The implications of this epidemiologic data for the predictive value of serology and clinical trials are discussed.