Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that is common among birds and other warm-blooded mammals. This is caused by the world’s most common parasite called the Toxoplasma gondii and is usually found in raw and undercooked meat, soil and cat faeces. This infection cannot be passed from one person to another. About 1% of the population in the UK is infected by the parasite. It is common at most people do not show symptoms of being infected by Toxoplasma gondii, this is because the human body has a strong immune system to defend itself against such parasites. The infected person may experience symptoms similar to flu and may have body aches but they will gradually decrease after a few weeks. However, it can prove fatal for babies and for people who have a weak immune system. Babies may be inflicted with jaundice and may develop defects and seizures of the brain.

Symptoms

Eighty percent of the people infected by the Toxoplasma gondii do not show any symptoms of infection and some do not even know that they are infected. Adults and children have strong immune systems and so the parasite cannot do much harm and will live in the body for the rest of their lives. However, the infection may cause swelling of lymph nodes and may cause body ache, fever, tiredness, a feeling of being sick and sore throat.

Toxoplasmosis can be dangerous if a pregnant woman is infected by the parasite as the unborn child may get infected and may prove fatal to the baby and the mother.

Toxoplasmosis is also dangerous to people with weak immune systems. They immune system may be weak due to conditions like AIDS and cancer, or people undergoing chemotherapy, or a person who has had an organ transplant. There is a high risk of suffering from permanent damage of the eye or brain like the encephalitis, which is the inflammation of the brain.

Causes

One does not get infected through contact to an infected person but you may get infected if you touch cat faeces, raw or uncooked infected meat, cutting boards, knives, and utensils that are infected by the parasite.

Infection by organ transplant and by un-pasteurised milk of goat is true but a rare case.

Diagnosis

The immune system immediately starts to make antibodies to fight the parasite once it is into the body. Blood test will be the sure way of knowing if you are infected by the Toxoplasma gondii. At times the blood test may show negative and that is because the body has not yet got the time to produce the antibodies.

Pregnant women infected with toxoplasmosis need to undergo the amniocentesis test to find if the unborn baby is infected.

People with weak immune system may show positive in the blood tests. And for the same reason the doctor may scan your brain to see if you are infected.

Treatment

It is usually the case that people with string immune system do not require treatment for infection. The ones who develop severe reactions to the parasite are given either pyrimethamine or sulfadiazine, which blocks the parasite from spreading and hinders its growth.