Toxoplasmosis and Pregnant Women

Toxoplasmosis (toxo) is an infection caused by a single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. The most common infection acquired from contact with cats and their feces or raw meat or undercooked. The centers of disease control and prevention American (CDC) estimates that more than 60 million people in the United States may carry the parasite Toxoplasma, but only very few have symptoms because a healthy immune system usually keeps the parasite-parasite from causing illness.

Factors That Increase Risk of Getting Toxoplasmosis

Following situations potentially expose a person to the toxoplasma parasite and increase the risks of acquiring toxoplasmosis:

1. touching your hands to your mouth after gardening, cleaning up cat defecate, or anything in contact with cat feces
2. meat eating raw or undercooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison
3. touching your hands to your mouth after contact with raw or undercooked meat
4. organ transplant or transfusion (this is rare)

If a woman is pregnant when she is infected with toxo, the infection can be transmitted to a baby with him sometimes disastrous consequences.

Common symptoms of toxoplasmosis

Although people infected with toxoplasmosis are often not aware of having the disease, typical symptoms of toxo are flulike symptoms including swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches and pains that last from several days to several weeks. If your immune system is normal, you can not get the infection again.

Pregnant women who had just contractually with toxoplasmosis parasite has a 40% chance pass them on their babies yet to be born. The women who first appeared on Toxo more than six months before becoming pregnant may not proceed infection in their children.

Most babies have no symptoms at birth, but a small percentage may be born with eye or brain damage. Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of the disease often appear a few months after birth.

Children who are born with toxoplasmosis can be sad with mental retardation, great disturbances, cramps, convulsions, cerebral palsy, deafness, and severe visual impairment. Abnormal head may be small (microcephaly) or large abnormal caused by increased pressure on the brain (hydrocephalus).


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