Toxoplasmosis screening. Take care when pregnant!
Toxoplasma gondii search test (serum TOXSU)
Toxoplasma gondii screening test, to see if you have this parasite in your body. The screening test can be performed as early as 5 to 7 days after suspected infection because it detects the presence of the parasite itself.
Should this test be positive, it is advisable to continue testing for toxoplamosis Gondii IgG (TOXG) and IgM. (TOXM)
This test looks at the antibodies that can be used to tell if there may be a passed infection. Complaints such as fever, rash, feeling lethargic or constantly tired? Be careful with pregnancy!
Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite. This parasite cannot be seen with the naked eye. You don't get really sick from toxoplasmosis. However, you may develop symptoms such as fever, a feeling of lethargy and swollen glands. Once you have had toxoplasmosis, you cannot get it again. The body has then formed antibodies against the parasite. Many people have experienced toxoplasmosis without noticing it themselves. Yet it turns out that about 45 percent of pregnant women have no antibodies against toxoplasmosis.
The effects on the unborn baby
Symptoms of disease range from asymptomatic to mild with lymphadenopathy (cervical), fever, general malaise, rash and eye complaints. Immune-compromised individuals (especially HIV/AIDS, transplantation) are at increased risk for a severe course. A pregnant person who experiences a primary infection is at risk of having a child with congenital Toxoplasmosis. Especially with an infection in the first trimester, the risk of serious pathology is high.
When the mother has toxoplasmosis just before or during pregnancy, the baby can also get the infection through the placenta. Unlike the pregnant woman, the baby is at risk. The baby can develop serious abnormalities, for example, of the nervous system (water head) and of the eyes (it can become blind). Often the problems do not show up until later. Should a pregnant woman have a serious toxoplasmosis infection, medication can help. It is important, however, that the infection be detected as soon as possible.
How to get toxoplasmosis
Catsand felines are the reservoir for this parasite and humans can become infected by eating contaminated raw or inadequately heated meat, contact with cat feces (litter box, gardening), in utero if the pregnant woman has a primary infection or through organ transplantation. The incubation period is 10-23 days.
What to do to prevent toxoplasmosis
It is better to err on the side of caution and make sure, as an expectant mother, that you do not come into contact with cat feces. Using gloves is an option, but it is even better to have someone else change the litter box while you are pregnant. When the litter box is cleaned daily, you prevent the parasite from multiplying. Cats often do their needs in the garden, so it is important to put on gloves when working in the garden. Be careful with unwashed vegetables and do not eat raw meat (raw meat can contain the toxoplasmosis parasite). Meat must be cooked through and through before it can be eaten. Bread spreads, for example, tartare, filet American, raw roast beef or ox sausage should also be left out until after delivery. Furthermore, it is important that you pay attention to good hygiene in the kitchen.
literature:
1.Prevalence, incidence estimations, and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Germany: a representative, cross-sectional, serological study; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26936108/
