Toxoplasmosis is a relatively new disease to the internist and the preventive medicine practitioner which requires specific techniques for diagnosis. It is caused by a protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, and its principal clinical forms occur in the newborn, in whom hydrocephalus, calcified intracranial lesions, and generalized involvement are seen (apparently contracted in utero), as well as acute and chronic ophthalmologic lesions. It is believed by some observers to occur as an acquired adult infection more frequently than is recognized. A study of acquired adult toxoplasmosis was therefore undertaken at VAMTG Hospital, Memphis, when specific tests became available to us from the U.S. Public Health Service Tropical Disease Laboratory under Dr. Don Eyles.
Progress in understanding this disease and determining its incidence depends upon special efforts to recognize cases. Toxoplasmosis may be overlooked by diagnosticians because it is believed rare, and it is therefore not often considered in differential diagnosis. It may