association between toxoplasmosis and covid-19 infection: a cross-sectional study

Background: covid-19 is a respiratory disease pandemic and a major global health problem that can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ards). previous studies have shown an inverse link between toxoplasmosis and covid-19. this study aimed to evaluate the association between covid-19 and toxoplasmosis infection.methods: in this cross-sectional descriptive study, samples were taken from 360 patients, 50% of whom were men and 50% were women. of the patients, 180 were determined to be covid-19-positive by the elisa kit, and 180 were in the control group. some demographic characteristics, such as sex, age range, and occupation, were also recorded.results: this study was conducted on 180 covid-19-positive patients, of whom 26.7% were in the 16-30-year age group, 25.1% were self-employed, and 31.7% had anti-toxoplasma gondii antibodies. among the 180 control patients, 21.1% had antibodies for t. gondii. of the 57 patients who were co-infected with both covid-19 and toxoplasmosis, men had higher infection rates (63.2%) than women (36.8%). there was a significant relationship between co-infections with covid-19 and toxoplasmosis with occupation, but not with age.conclusion: the study found that people with toxoplasmosis infection have a 1.73 times higher risk of contracting covid-19. the findings suggest that infectious agents could be a predisposing factor, possibly due to changes in cytokine levels.