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Conjectures that Toxoplasma gondii infections mediate or moderate pathogenesis in schizophrenia have recently mushroomed. Assorted epidemiological, immunological, neuropathological, and neurophysiological studies have implicated this cat-borne parasite in triggering psychotic episodes and, possibly, affecting the clinical picture. In this Czech study involving 251 inpatients (58% men; mean age, 28) with schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorders, researchers focused on dormant asymptomatic toxoplasmosis, considered to be a lifelong disease in which viable parasites inhabit tissue cysts, identifiable via immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies.
Compared with noninfected patients, the 57 Toxoplasma-positive patients (23%) had longer hospitaliz…