Kymtte
The pregnancy webpage
Toxoplasmosis in Pregnancy
Toxoplasmosis is one of the infections that cause high risks on the health of fetus before being born; it is caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which is poured in cat feces after multiplying in the intestine of these cats, then, it may passed to human when he handles the objects that are exposed to the infected feces of the cats, such as litter boxes and garden soil, or when he eats undercooked meat from animals who was infected with the parasite.
The effects of toxoplasmosis differ from adults to fetuses, toxoplasmosis may not has any distinguishable symptoms to diagnose infection in health adults, but, if the mother is infected with toxoplasmosis while she is pregnant, the fetus will also be infected with it from his or her mother, although some infected babies may not have any diseases, other babies may develop some dangerous diseases which may cause severe damage to the brain and eyes.
Human body is capable of developing immunity to toxoplasmosis if it has enough time, so, if a woman has been infected at least six to nine months before pregnancy, the infection will be treated before the time of pregnancy by the body immunity, and there will be a weak probability of risk on the baby.
Symptoms of toxoplasmosis are rare, they are similar to symptoms flue, but, there is a blood test that can determine if the person is currently infected or was infected with toxoplasmosis. If you are not sure that you got the immunity or not, it is recommended to follow the following advices to protect yourself and your unborn child:
• If you have a cat, you should not allow her to go outside where she can come into contact with toxoplasma, it is better if you ask someone else to care of her during your pregnancy.
• Ask someone else to change and disinfect the litter box (using boiling water for 5 minutes), but if you must do it by yourself, wear rubber gloves while you are doing that and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.
• Use gloves when you are working in your garden and wash your hands afterwards.
• Close your children's sandboxes when they are not using them, because, cats may use them as litter boxes.
• Flies and cockroaches should be controlled since they can spread contaminated soil onto food.
• Avoid eating raw or undercooked meat, drinking unpasteurized milk, eating raw eggs, or eating unwashed fruits and vegetables.
