Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis
T. gondii tachyzoites
Classification and external resources
Specialty	Infectious disease
ICD-10	B58
ICD-9-CM	130
DiseasesDB	13208
MedlinePlus	000637
eMedicine	med/2294
Patient UK	Toxoplasmosis
MeSH	D014123
[]

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii. Infections with toxoplasmosis usually cause no symptoms in adult humans. Occasionally there may be a few weeks or months of mild flu-like illness such as muscle aches and tender lymph nodes. In a small number of people, eye problems may develop. In those with a weak immune system, severe symptoms such as seizures and poor coordination may occur. If infected during pregnancy, a condition known as congenital toxoplasmosis may affect the child.

Toxoplasmosis is usually spread by eating poorly cooked food that contains cysts, exposure to infected cat feces, and from a mother to a child during pregnancy if the mother becomes infected. Rarely the disease may be spread by blood transfusion. It is not otherwise spread between people. The parasite is only known to reproduce sexually in the cat family. However, it can infect most types of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Diagnosis is typically by testing blood for antibodies or by testing amniotic fluid for the parasite's DNA.

Prevention is by properly preparing and cooking food. It is also recommended that pregnant women not clean cat litter boxes. Treatment of otherwise healthy people is usually not needed. During pregnancy spiramycin or pyrimethamine/sulfadiazine and folinic acid may be used for treatment.

Up to half of the world's population is infected by toxoplasmosis but have no symptoms. In the United States about 23% are affected and in some areas of the world this is up to 95%. About 200,000 cases of congenital toxoplasmosis occur a year.Charles Nicolle and Louis Manceaux first described the organism in 1908. In 1941 transmission during pregnancy from a mother to a child was confirmed.

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