As you might know Toxoplasma is a parasite that can pass the blood-brain-barrier and thus infect our brains.
Over the last 15-20 years scientists from biology, parasitology, neurology, medicine etc. has developed a deep understanding of what happens when you get infected - and have found that Tg is dangerous to human beings, and that there might be relation between Tg and a - surprisingly large - number of really serious diseases such as schizophrenia, alzheimer's, depression, brain cancer, diabetes etc. The list is quite long and quite remarkable. Also a lot of research has been made on the mind-altering effects of Toxoplasma, which by itself also is highly remarkable....for instance scientists says that it changes the perception of risk and makes people aggressive and suicidal.
When was the last time you heard of an infection that makes people sick in a number of ways - from schizophrenia to cancer, and that could alter their minds? Ever?
Think about it - Tg is something totally unique, it is in a class of its own, no other parasite/virus/infection resembles it. It is singular. It is something we have not seen before. Ever. And yet, most people doesn't know it.
For years scientists and institutions have been appealing to politicians and the press to deal with the matter. WHO, CDC and UN has explicitly been trying to get this on the political agenda for more than 5 years, but nothing happens....the politicians do not listen, the journalists do not ask questions.
Give you nearest politician or mass media a call - and ask for their opinion on Toxoplasma. Ask you doctor too. Create attention. Try discussing it with friends and family - educate and take action. The problem can be solved and everyone should know the prophylactics to reduce risk of infection. I'm confident that Toxoplasma can be dealt with and that humans can be immunized - but the first step there is to recognize the problem.
Here is some of the remarkable things science and institutions says about the issue:
EC Neurology (2018):
“Although latent, chronic infection with Toxoplasma gondii (..) was generally considered relatively benign, the systematic review of the available literature revealed that latent, chronic infection could be a risk factor for a wide spectrum of several neurological and psychiatric manifestations, including altered cognition and behavior as a possible consequence. “
Unit for Gastrointestinal Infections, Robert Koch Institute Germany (2016):
"High numbers of seroconversions during pregnancies pose substantial risks for unborn children. Efforts to raise awareness of toxoplasmosis in public health programs targeting to T. gondii transmission control are therefore strongly advocated."
Flegr et al. (2016):
"Results of the present cohort study, along with the previous data from many case-control studies or ecological studies suggest that latent toxoplasmosis represents a large and so far underrated public health problem."
WHO Europe (2016):
"Toxoplasmosis: greater awareness needed (..) More awareness is needed in Europe about the risk factors for infection of Toxoplasma gondii, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)."
Kugler et al. (2016):
"Systemic toxoplasma infection triggers a long-term defect in the generation and function of naive T lymphocytes"
(.. ) leads to an immunocompromised state that both promotes chronic toxoplasma infection and leads to decreased resistance to challenge with an unrelated pathogen."
WHO (2015):
"The disease burden due to most foodborne parasites is highly focal and results in significant morbidity and mortality among vulnerable populations."
Sinai et al. (2015):
"…the study has significant implications on the understanding of chronic toxoplasmosis in the brain, a condition suggested to contribute to a range of neurological diseases including schizophrenia in humans" "These findings directly challenge the prevailing notion of bradyzoites as dormant nonreplicative entities in chronic toxoplasmosis and have implications on our understanding of this enigmatic and clinically important life cycle stage. This fundamentally alters our understanding of chronic toxoplasmosis,"
Flegr et al. (2014):
"Toxoplasmosis - A Global Threat. Correlation of Latent Toxoplasmosis with Specific Disease Burden.."
Center for Disease Control, CDC, USA (2014):
"Parasitic infections affect millions around the world causing seizures,blindness, infertility, heart failure, and even death (..) While parasitic infections can sometimes affect millions of people, they often cause few symptoms and go unnoticed (..) More than 60 million people (in US) are chronically infected with Toxoplasma gondii (..) The CDC experts noted that most parasitic infections can be prevented and many are treatable. But they most often go undiagnosed and untreated because people don't know they are at risk or infected, and many doctors, unfamiliar with these infections, fail to diagnose or treat them properly"
United Nations/FAO (2014):
"Despite their huge social costs and global impacts, information is generally lacking regarding just where these parasites come from, how they live in the human body, and - most importantly - how they make people sick (..) But considering the problems they cause, these parasites do not get the attention they deserve. We hope that by releasing a top 10 ranking we can increase awareness among policy makers, the media and the general public about this major public health issue."
Prime Minister of Iceland (2014):
"PM Fears Behavior-Changing Microbe in Imported Meat"
Gary Smith et al. (2014)
Up to 1/5 of all schizophrenia related to Tg.
"By finding out how important a factor T. gondii infection is, this work might inform our attitude to researching the subject. Instead of ridiculing the idea of a connection between T. gondii and schizophrenia because it seems so extraordinary, we can sit down and consider the evidence. Perhaps then we might be persuaded to look for more ways to reduce the number of people infected with toxoplasma."
Flegr et al (2014)
The existence of a strong correlation between the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and health of population (..) suggests that 'asymptomatic' latent toxoplasmosis could have a large impact on public health.
WHO (2013):
"Our estimates of the incidence and burden of CT point to a very large global burden of toxoplasmosis. (..) There are also increasing reports of neurological, psychiatric or psychomotor disorders related to "latent" toxoplasmosis, and of a higher frequency of road traffic accidents among seropositive individuals (..) the global burden of disease attributable to toxoplasmosis is considerably greater than suggested by our CT data.".
Professor Jaroslav Flegr: (2012)
"'When you add up all the different ways it can harm us,' says Flegr, 'Toxoplasma might even kill as many people as malaria, or at least a million people a year (..)There is strong psychological resistance to the possibility that human behavior can be influenced by some stupid parasite,"
Furtado et al. (2011)
"Toxoplasmosis; A Global Threat"
Wiki (2009):
Overall, Toxoplasmosis can have extremely detrimental effects on anyone who contracts the disease."
Links to the above in this article:
medium.com/@bohembaeksvensson/toxoplasma-the-most-successful-parasite-in-the-world-do-you-know-it-c1083012f28a
