What Is Toxoplasmosis?
Previously, toxoplasmosis was one of the infections that used to cause a lot of concern in women. Especially in pregnant women. However, today it is different, not only because of the decrease in cases but also because of the number of preventive measures that exist. Besides that the treatment has many facilities.
However, despite the fact that today it no longer poses a serious risk in the vast majority of cases, it is essential to detect and treat it in time.
It is an infection that is spread through the action of a microscopic parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Usually, the infection occurs because the person (or in this case, the pregnant woman) is in an unhealthy environment, with poor hygiene conditions and, of course, neglected pets.
The toxoplasmosis parasite is one of the most common that exist. In fact, more than 60 million people in the United States have it. Its definitive host par excellence are cats, therefore, toxoplasmosis is usually associated with these pets. However, the parasite can infect other animals and humans.
Now, for the parasite to invade the human body, the following factors must be present:
- Neglecting hygiene in the preparation of food, especially those of plant origin.
- Do not handle or cook meat well, especially lamb.
- Consumption of contaminated water.
- Failure to maintain good hygiene habits, especially in relation to hand washing after having been in contact with an animal, and the use of gloves when handling its feces or soil.
- Direct contact with infected cat feces (this usually occurs when cleaning the litter box or other objects).
- Not keeping up-to-date hygiene and vaccination control of household pets.
How is toxoplasmosis manifested?
In general, most healthy people do not have strong symptoms and therefore do not know they are infected until they have a test. However, there are those who experience the following symptoms:
- Fatigue.
- Headache.
- Muscle pains.
- Fever (no higher than 38 ºC).
- Swollen lymph nodes.
- Moderate redness of the retina.
Diagnosis and treatment
As long as a diagnosis is made in time, it will be much easier to manage the problem and the number of complications will be reduced. Now, in order to detect and diagnose toxoplasmosis infection, it is necessary to perform a serology study or a blood test (which shows positive results in the presence of the antitoxoplasma antibody).
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the doctor should prescribe a treatment depending on the case. However, generally speaking, it usually consists of antibiotics. In the case of pregnant women, a regular monitoring of the health of the fetus will begin, through ultrasound scans and the evaluation of a sample of blood from the umbilical cord (around the 22nd week of pregnancy).
Possible complications in pregnancy
- The period of greatest risk for the fetus is during the first trimester of pregnancy. Therefore, if the diagnosis and treatment of toxoplasmosis is not carried out from this moment, the most likely thing is that the picture will be complicated.
- Children with congenital toxoplasmosis can develop disabling complications such as hearing loss, mental disability, and blindness, as well as definitive liver disease.
- In severe cases, the fetus may have neurological or cardiac abnormalities. And in extreme cases, toxoplasmosis can cause the death of the fetus.
In the same way, babies can present ocular malformations several years after the infection has occurred, that is, even if the baby is born normal, later it can become ill. This is known as congenital toxoplasmosis, which involves monitoring the disease for at least the first year of life.
It is known that in 50% of cases, the mother does not infest the fetus and also that in almost 80% of infections they do not lead to serious problems ; therefore, it is important to keep in mind that with early diagnosis and treatment it is possible for the baby to be born well.
