Screening for toxoplasmosis

BMJ 1994;309:665 (10 September)

Letters

Screening for toxoplasmosis

EDITOR, - The Toxoplasmosis Trust's finding that only just overhalf of British antenatal clinics give advice and informationon toxoplasmosis¹ broadly agrees with the finding of a similarstudy by the Public Health Laboratory Service.² The trust'ssurvey, however, raises more questions than it provides answers.

Both the table and the text misuse the term "screening" andtherefore misleadingly imply that almost all the respondents(89% of British antental clinics) are, contrary to current recommendations,³engaged in a category of this activity. Investigating subjectsfor acute toxoplasmosis on request and when flu-like symptomsare reported is diagnosis, not screening. Failure to distinguishbetween these two activities can only add confusion to the "adhoc nature of current screening policy" deplored by ChristineAsbury.¹ The activities carry completely different ethical andresource implications, although they both require backing bywell informed professionals if patients are to benefit. Thesurvey's finding . . . [Full text of this article]