Toxinosis - Trachoma

toxinosis

(tŏk″sĭ-nō′sĭs) [″ + Gr. osis, condition] Toxicosis.

toxipathy

(tŏks-ĭp′ă-thē) [″ + Gr. pathos, disease, suffering] Toxicosis.

toxocariasis

(tŏks″ō-kār-ī′ă-sĭs) [″ + kara, head, + -iasis, condition] Infestation with the nematode worms Toxocara canis or T. cati, which migrate but cannot complete their life cycle in a human host and die after causing tissue damage that ranges from mild to severe. Larvae may be carried to any part of the body where the blood vessel is large enough to accommodate them. They may end up in the brain, retinal vessels, liver, lung, or heart and produce myocarditis, endophthalmitis, epilepsy, or encephalitis. Diagnosis is made by immunological tests and by the presence of larvae in tissue obtained by liver biopsy. It is important that toxocariasis be considered in cases diagnosed as retinoblastoma. SYN: visceral larva migrans.

toxoid

(tok′soyd″) [tox(in) + -oid] A toxin chemically modified to retain its antigenicity but no longer poisonous. SYN: anatoxin.

 alum-precipitated t. Toxoid of diphtheria or tetanus precipitated with alum.

 diphtheria t. Diphtheria toxin altered so that it cannot cause disease but is still able to stimulate the production of antibodies for active immunization. It is used in diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine (DTaP).

 tetanus t. Tetanus toxin modified so that its toxicity is greatly reduced but retaining its capacity to promote active immunity. SEE: toxin.

toxolecithin

(tŏks″ō-lĕs′ĭ-thĭn) [″ + lekithos, egg yolk] A compound of lecithin with a toxin such as certain snake venoms.

toxopeptone

(tŏks″ō-pĕp′tōn) [″ + pepton, digesting] A protein derivative produced by action of a toxin on peptones.

Toxoplasma

(tŏks″ō-plăs′mă) A genus of protozoa in the sporozoa group.

 T. gondii The causative agent of toxoplasmosis.

toxoplasmin

(tŏk″sō-plăs′mĭn) An antigen obtained from mouse peritoneal fluid infected with Toxoplasma gondii.

toxoplasmosis

(tok-sŏ-plaz″-mō′sĭs) [Toxoplasma + -osis] Infection with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. It usually is a recurrence of a mild infection in people with normal immune systems; approx. 30% of the U.S. population have antibodies indicating they have been infected. AIDS patients or those who are receiving immunosuppressive therapy after an organ transplant are esp. susceptible: for them, reactivation of dormant organisms may be fatal. Approx. 25% of women infected for the first time during pregnancy pass the infection to the developing fetus.

 INCIDENCE: Approximately one-third of the world’s human population is infected with toxoplasma species.

 ETIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION: T. gondii is carried by many birds and mammals and is commonly transmitted to humans by ...