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Toxoplasmosis – what do you know about it?

Toxoplasmosis - what do you know about it?

If you are healthy, you probably won’t know whether you have contracted Toxoplasmosis or not. This is an infection caused by something called as the parasite or otherwise called as Toxoplasma gondii. It can usually be found in cat feces as well as undercooked meat, specifically venison, pork, and lamb. In addition to that, it can also be transmitted via contaminated water. It can also cause serious birth defects in a fetus as well as it can be deadly if the mother becomes infected. This is one of the major reasons why doctors ask a pregnant woman not to do any scooping or cleaning cat litter boxes.

In most of the cases, toxoplasmosis will not cause any symptoms so that, the person won’t be aware that they are infected. According to the CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention millions of people are infected with the parasite. The people who have the utmost risk for serious infections are the people with weakened immune systems and babies born to mothers with infection amid their pregnancy.

Common symptoms:

The above-mentioned symptoms are usually mild and they will normally pass within a few weeks.

When will one get toxoplasmosis?

A person can get toxoplasmosis when the T. gondii parasites get into his/her mouth. This can happen due to the occurrence of following scenarios:

Apart from all these there is also a small risk of the infection being passed from the sheep during the lambing season and the reason is the T. gondii parasite sometimes found on the newborn or the after birth lambs when an infected sheep gives birth.

Problems amid pregnancy:

Toxoplasmosis can be really serious if a mom-to-be becomes infected or even a few weeks before conceiving. Moreover, there is a chance that the infection could be passed to her infant. Not only that, the risk of getting toxoplasmosis amid pregnancy is very low. It is estimated 1 in 200 women are the victim of Toxoplasmosis. A woman will not usually have any symptoms if she is infected during pregnancy, but by any chance, if the infection spreads to her infant then it can cause:

Congenital toxoplasmosis can also cause serious issues that are either noticeable from the baby’s birth or develop few months or years later, like brain damage vision problems and hearing loss.

People who have weaker Immune System:

If a person has HIV or AIDS or if the person is receiving chemotherapy or else have recently had an organ transplant, there is a possibility that the person can be a victim of a previous toxoplasma infection. In that case, that particular person is more likely to develop and symptoms and signs of severe infection which includes:

Babies

Only a few babies who have toxoplasmosis had shown signs of the disease during birth. But, often, the infected children will not develop signs and symptoms until their teens or later. Some of the early infections on babies are

Prevention:

Treatment for toxoplasmosis is unnecessary usually. Most of the times, the infection is diagnosed with just a blood test that checks for the presence of particular antibodies. Moreover, a healthy person who is not pregnant and if he/she becomes infected, they don’t require treatment. Symptoms will be usually mild and they disappear after a few weeks.

For people who are with weakened immune systems or those who have HIV/AIDS should consult their doctor and get the medications that include prescribed antibiotics.

 

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