Abstract:

Background: Ocular toxoplasmosis is a chorioretinal infection with Toxoplasma gondii. Multiple studies from different regions of the globe have identified ocular toxoplasmosis as the most common form of posterior uveitis, in some populations including Europe, North Africa ocular toxoplasmosis is the leading cause of posterior uveitis. Since acquired infection with T. gondii is currently a more important cause of ocular toxoplasmosis compared to congenital infection so the majority of ocular toxoplasmosis is acquired orally, either by consuming or handling raw or uncooked meat containing tissue cysts, or by drinking water contaminated with oocysts shed by cats. Atypical presentations includes unilateral necrotizing renitis with secondary choroiditis, occurring adjacent to a pigmented retinalchoroidal scar and associated with retinal vasculitis and vitritis. Multiple atypical presentations are also described with severe inflammation which is observed in immunocompromised patients. For typical ocular toxoplasmosis diagnosis is easily made on clinical examination. In atypical cases ocular fluid testing to detect parasite DNA by polymerase chain reaction or to determine intraocular production of specific antibody may be extremely useful. Therefore it is of highly interest to know the knowledge and practices on toxoplasmosis among patients attending at ophthalmology clinic in order to emphasize and increase awareness of this disease, its complications and preventatives measures of the disease.

Objective: To determine knowledge and practices and toxoplasmosis among patients attending at ophthalmology clinic at Bugando Medical Centre.

Methodology: A prospective cross sectional study will be used to assess the knowledge and practices among patients attending at ophthalmology clinic at Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza-Tanzania. Study population of 384 patients will be used in which they will be selected by convenient sampling. A structured Swahili questionnaire will be used to extract information from the patients in which the data obtained will be transferred to computer for analysis using SPSS version 20.
Project implication: Impacting information on what knowledge and practices do patients attending ophthalmology clinic have on toxoplasmosis will help to increase the awareness of the existence of the ocular toxoplasmosis disease and its complications but also help the healthy government making policies on making new strategies for the prevention of the disease.

Results: Majority of the patient’s participants had never heard about the disease of toxoplasmosis (97%) however few of them (3%) had heard of this disease, their source was in class sessions (2.7%), in which the most common symptom the mentioned was malaise (1.6%). They knew the mode of transmission in which 6 had mentioned fecal oral while 2 mentioned blood transfusion also 8(3.1%) knew the control measures while 1 participant (0.3%) knew about new born getting infected of this disease through vertical transmission. On the health care worker’s majority were aware about the disease, 11(73.4%) of the health care worker’s participants knows the laboratory interpretations of ocular toxoplasmosis which includes IgG and IgM interpretations, however there is no topics mentioned to be taught to the patients, no ocular toxoplasmosis management available nor posters about toxoplasmosis on the boards.

Conclusion: The study has showed that a significant number of people are not aware of the disease toxoplasmosis in that majority have never heard of it and do not know how their practice would affect and make them contact the disease for example the farming activities that are daily done by these people also contact with cats or housekeeping practice. Moreover, with the health care workers they approved to be knowing the disease in the that majority could identify Toxoplasma gondii as a parasite which the definitive host stated as cat, most of them did knew the laboratory investigations that are made for this disease, knew the confirmatory test. Most stated that fund scope could be used to diagnose the disease however there was no management manual available, there were no posters about the disease on the boards but also no topics about the disease was covered to the patients in order to increase awareness. Thus the study reveals the disease, toxoplasmosis to be a neglected disease.