[Toxoplasmosis in AIDS]

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is one of the major opportunistic infections observed in France in 15 to 37 percent of HIV-infected patients. Its main manifestation is encephalitis. Other, less frequent manifestations are chorioretinitis, pneumonia or disseminated toxoplasmosis. The conventional treatment is a combination of pyrimethamine 50-75 mg/day and sulfadiazine 6-8 g/day. Acute therapy should be pursued for at least 3 weeks or until optimal response is achieved, i.e. 6 to 8 weeks in most cases. The pyrimethamine-clindamycin combination in doses of at least 2.4 g/day is a possible alternative. Other drugs are being studied, but there is still a need for new drugs active against the parasite, that could be used in humans. In HIV-infected patients treatment should be maintained lifelong to prevent relapses. Maintenance regimens use the same drugs as acute therapy but in lower doses. The main field of research is primary prophylaxis of toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected patients.