The boy-to-girl ratio at birth (secondary sex ratio) is around 0.51 in most populations. The sex ratio varies between societies
and may be influenced by many factors, such as stress and immunosuppression, age, primiparity, the sex of the preceding siblings
and the socioeconomic status of the parents. As parasite infection affects many immunological and physiological parameters
of the host, we analyzed the effect of latent toxoplasmosis on sex ratios in humans. Clinical records of 1,803 infants born
from 1996 to 2004 contained information regarding the mother’s age, concentration of anti-
Toxoplasma antibodies, previous deliveries and abortions and the sex of the newborn. The results of our retrospective cohort study suggest
that the presence of one of the most common parasites (with a worldwide prevalence from 20 to 80%),
Toxoplasma gondii, can influence the secondary sex ratio in humans. Depending on the antibody concentration, the probability of the birth of
a boy can increase up to a value of 0.72, C.I.
95 = (0.636, 0.805), which means that for every 260 boys born, 100 girls are born to women with the highest concentration of
anti-
Toxoplasma antibodies. The toxoplasmosis associated with immunosuppression or immunomodulation might be responsible for the enhanced
survival of male embryos. In light of the high prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis in most countries, the impact of toxoplasmosis
on the human population might be considerable.
Keywords Human sex ratio - Secondary sex ratio - Immunosuppression - Manipulation hypothesis - Trivers–Willard hypothesis