Congenital toxoplasmosis in Austria: Prenatal screening for prevention is cost-saving.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Primary infection of Toxoplasma gondii during pregnancy can be transmitted to the unborn child and may have serious consequences, including retinochoroiditis, hydrocephaly, cerebral calcifications, encephalitis, splenomegaly, hearing loss, blindness, and death. Austria, a country with moderate seroprevalence, instituted mandatory prenatal screening for toxoplasma infection to minimize the effects of congenital transmission. This work compares the societal costs of congenital toxoplasmosis under the Austrian national prenatal screening program with the societal costs that would have occurred in a No-Screening scenario.

Methodology/principal findings

We retrospectively investigated data from the Austrian Toxoplasmosis Register for birth cohorts from 1992 to 2008, in

SUBMITTER: Prusa AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5503164 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature