$Unique_ID{PAR00173}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Medical Advice:  Toxoplasmosis}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Editors of Consumer Guide
Chasnoff, Ira J}
$Subject{Toxoplasmosis illness fever pregnant unborn fetus raw undercooked
meat meats cat's litter box pregnancy mammals people birds reptiles Toxoplasma
gondii feces chickens cats dogs miscarry miscarriage miscarriages stillbirth
stillborn hydrocephalus microcephaly mentally retarded newborn newborns
convulsion convulsions anemia jaundice eye damage pneumonia encephalitis heart
disease congenital illness illnesses}
$Log{}

Your Child:  A Medical Guide


Toxoplasmosis


     Quick Reference

     SYMPTOMS
     - Minor illness produces few symptoms.
     - Severe illness causes high fever.

     HOME CARE
     - Prevention is the best home care.

     PRECAUTIONS
     - Toxoplasmosis can damage a pregnant woman's unborn child.
     - A pregnant woman should avoid eating raw or undercooked meat.
     - A pregnant woman should not handle or change a cat's litter box during
       the pregnancy.
     - It is not necessary to get rid of the family cat if someone in the
       household is pregnant.  Do not, however, introduce a new pet,
       especially a cat, during the first three months of a pregnancy.


     Toxoplasmosis afflicts all mammals (including people), many birds, and
some reptiles.  It is caused by a one-celled parasite called Toxoplasma
gondii, which is one third the size of a red blood cell.  Although blood tests
show that as many as half the adults in this country have had the infection at
one time or another, few persons outside the medical community are even aware
of it.  Like German measles, toxoplasmosis can severely damage an unborn baby
during the first three months of pregnancy; however, it is rarely serious for
any other age group.
     Toxoplasmosis is contracted by eating raw or undercooked meat or by
direct contact with the feces of chickens, cats, or dogs.  The disease is not
spread among humans, except from a pregnant woman to her unborn child.
     A woman who contracts toxoplasmosis during the first three months of
pregnancy can transmit the infection to the unborn baby.  As a result she may
miscarry, the baby may be stillborn, or the infant may be born with
hydrocephalus ("water on the brain") or microcephaly (an abnormally small
head).  The newborn may be mentally retarded or have convulsions, anemia,
jaundice, or eye damage.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

     Most people with toxoplasmosis have no symptoms.  Some have temporary
swelling of the lymph nodes, and a few have symptoms resembling those of
infectious mononucleosis.  Rarely is the illness severe.  When it is, it
causes a high fever (103 degrees_F or 104 degrees_F) and can lead to
pneumonia, encephalitis, and heart disease.  One attack, however mild, seems
to give lifelong immunity.
     Toxoplasmosis is not usually diagnosed.  It may be suspected from a blood
cell count that shows numerous white blood cells of a certain type, but it can
be confirmed only by complicated tests that evaluate the blood levels of the
antibodies (protective substances) that the body produces to fight against the
Toxoplasma organisms.

HOME CARE

     Prevention is the best method of home care.  However, congenital (present
at birth) toxoplasmosis transmitted to the fetus during pregnancy is so rare
that many experienced physicians have never seen a case.  It hardly seems
necessary, therefore, for a pregnant woman to avoid eating meat altogether or
to get rid of household pets.

PRECAUTIONS

  -  A pregnant woman should not expose herself to Toxoplasma organisms by
     eating raw or undercooked meat.
  -  A pregnant woman should not change a cat's litter box or acquire a new
     pet during the first three months of her pregnancy.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

     Drugs are available to treat severe cases of toxoplasmosis, but they are
highly toxic (poisonous) and cannot be given to pregnant women.

RELATED TOPICS:  Glands, swollen; Infectious mononucleosis