An experimental model for acquired and congenital ocular toxoplasmosis as well as a model to induce experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) was investigated in Calomys callosus. Toxoplasma gondii, ME-49 strain, was used to infect males and pregnant- and not pregnant-females while S-antigen, a major glycoprotein of the retinal photoreceptor cell, was used to induce EAU. The ocular lesions elicited...

BACKGROUND Trachoma, caused by ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, is hyperendemic on the Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea Bissau. An understanding of the risk factors associated with active trachoma and infection on these remote and isolated islands, which are atypical of trachoma-endemic environments described elsewhere, is crucial to the implementation of trachoma elimination strategie...

BACKGROUND Trachoma control programs utilize mass azithromycin distributions to treat ocular Chlamydia trachomatis as part of an effort to eliminate this disease world-wide. But it remains unclear what the community-level risk factors are for infection. METHODS This cluster-randomized, controlled trial entered 48 randomly selected communities in a 2×2 factorial design evaluating the effect of...

BACKGROUND Ocular involvement in HIV infection/AIDS is very common and it includes various clinical presentations which may be asymptomatic or atypical or they may be the initial manifestations of the underlying disease. The severity of these lesions increases as the immune competency decreases, leading to visual impairment or blindness. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine th...

BACKGROUND Blinding trachoma, caused by ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, is targeted for global elimination by 2020. Knowledge of risk factors can help target control interventions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS As part of a cluster randomised controlled trial, we assessed the baseline prevalence of, and risk factors for, active trachoma and ocular C. trachomatis infection in ran...

Conjunctivitis and keratitis are common forms of ocular morbidity seen in general practice and eye units. 2 The aetiology of these diseases includes viral, bacterial, or parasitic infection as well as allergy, trauma, and dietary deficiency. Among the common microbial causes (Table 1) are adenovirus, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and Chlamydia trachomatis. Ocular adenovirus infections occur throu...

BACKGROUND Ocular syphilis is reemerging as an important cause of uveitis in the new era of common co-infection with HIV. This study will reveal the clinical and laboratory characteristics in the group of individuals co-infected with ocular syphilis and HIV compared with HIV-negative individuals. In this retrospective observational case series, medical records of patients diagnosed with ocular ...

PURPOSE To examine the relationship between ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection and follicular trachoma (TF) in children prior to and following multiple rounds of annual mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Thirty-two communities with endemic trachoma in Kongwa District, Tanzania, were offered annual MDA as part of a district-wide trachoma contro...

toxoplasma gondii as a protozoan parasite is the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis. although t. gondii infection in healthy adults is asymptomatic; however, primary infection during pregnancy can cause severe complication such as fetus death and abortion, anatomical and mental malformation and ocular toxoplasmosis. it can be life threatening for immunocompromised person including cerebral absces...

We studied a clinical case of vaccinia virus that caused an ocular manifestation in a dairy worker in Brazil. Biologic and molecular analyses identified a co-infection with 2 isolates from different Brazilian vaccinia virus phylogenetic groups.