Boston: Toxoplasmosis: What You Need To Know If You Are Pregnant Or Plan On Becoming Pregnant

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One of the most common questions pregnant women who own cats or are frequently around cats have is if they or their baby can catch an infection known as One of the most common questions pregnant women owning cats have is if they or their baby can catch an infection known as toxoplasmosis. Many expecting mothers’ worry that they can catch it from cleaning their cat’s litterbox or by just merely petting a cat. Is there any truth to this fear? How much contact should expecting mothers have with cats?

Believe it or not, toxoplasmosis, caused by the single celled parasite Toxoplasma Gondii, is really common. With about 60 million infected in the U.S. per year, it may be more surprising to you that we don’t hear about this infection more often. The reason we don’t hear about it frequently is that the average healthy person doesn’t show any symptoms. Those with weakened immune systems or pregnant may be at a more serious risk. However, by taking precautions, one can be safer from contracting this parasite.

Toxoplasmosis is contracted by different means which include: Drinking water contaminated with the Toxoplasma parasite, not washing hands or surfaces after handling raw meat or cat feces, not washing hands after gardening in contaminated soil, eating unwashed fruits or vegetables grown in contaminated soil.

Cats get toxoplasmosis from eating animals or raw meat infected with the parasite. Cats don’t show signs they’ve been infected but can pass it in their feces 7 to 10 days during the height of their infection. It is good practice to clean the litterbox every day because it takes more than one day for the Toxoplasma parasite to become infectious.

To help keep your cat from contracting the infection, keep them indoors and cook any meat you give him completely or, better yet, stick to feeding only the commercial, store-bought dry or canned cat foods.

To keep yourself from contracting it, thoroughly wash your hands after gardening or cleaning litterboxes, wash all fruits and vegetables, clean all surfaces, knives, and utensils that come in contact with raw meat, and cook all meat (esp. pork, deer, and lamb) until done to kill the parasite. You won’t get the parasite by petting cats-it’s through direct contact with the feces only. By direct contact, it is meant that you clean the litterbox or garden in soil that has cat feces in it (the Toxoplasma parasite can live several months in the soil) then touch your mouth with the unwashed hands.

If you think you’ve been infected, as stated before, you may not show symptoms and it will, more than likely, resolve itself. When symptoms have been seen, they have included swollen lymph nodes and a general flu-like feeling. Those with weakened immune systems or are pregnant will want to see the doctor for treatment. People with poor immune systems, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), can have fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, seizures, and even brain and eye damage. A pregnant woman’s unborn baby can be infected by Toxoplasma in the first trimester of her pregnancy but it won’t show any signs of being infected until later in life in the form of brain or eye damage and seizures. For the parasite to cause damage to the unborn baby, the woman must contract it, as stated, in her first trimester and the cat must have passed it at the height of infection in the 7-10 day window of opportunity. Then she has to ingest it (by not washing hands). It is a very precarious timing situation for the baby to get infected.

Toxoplasma tests are available to those who think they have been infected. Medication is also available to get rid of the infection and the parasite.

Toxoplasmosis is commonly found around us and is commonly infectious. More than likely, you’ve been infected already and never knew it If this is so, you are unlikely to get reinfected. If you are in the high risk zone by having a compromised immune system or are pregnant, just remember to wash thoroughly or wear gloves when gardening or cleaning litterboxes or, better yet, have someone else do the litterboxes. The bottom line is: you can still love and enjoy your cat even during your pregnancy!

Source by Tina Seay

Toxoplasmosis: What You Need To Know If You Are Pregnant Or Plan On Becoming Pregnant