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Have you ever heard of toxoplasmosis infection in pregnancy? Be careful, the infection is very dangerous for the fetus. Toxoplasma infection can cause blindness, nervous disorders, heart problems, and can even interfere with the brain development of the baby in the womb. Therefore, it is important for you to protect your pregnancy from the dangers of Toxoplasma.

Toxoplasmosis is a disorder caused by protozoa known as toxoplasma gondii . These parasitic protozoa have two life cycles. The first life cycle is in the digestive tract of cats, while the second cycle is in infected animals and humans.

Will a pregnant woman who has toxoplasmosis develop any symptoms?

Generally, most mothers who are infected with toxoplasmosis do not have any symptoms. Only a small proportion have symptoms such as fatigue, low-grade fever, and enlarged lymph nodes.

How is Toxoplasma transmitted?

Toxoplasma is transmitted in three ways. The first is through food that has not been cooked until cooked or raw food contaminated with Toxoplasma. Second, because of exposure to animal feces such as cats (other animals such as goats, sheep, and dogs can also be spreaders when eating food or drinks containing tokosplama from cat litter). The last one is transmission from pregnant women to the fetus they are carrying.

Tests that need to be done before and during pregnancy to check for toxoplasmosis

There are several tests that can be done to find out toxoplasmosis, including the Toxoplasma Ig M and Ig G antibody tests. When infection occurs, Ig M will increase within 5 days to several weeks, and reach its peak in 1-2 months. Meanwhile, IgG antibodies generally appear slower than IgM. IgG can appear 1-2 weeks after infection and reach its peak within 12 weeks to 6 months after acute infection. Positive test results for IgG and negative IgM, indicate a long-running infectious process.

If you are already pregnant, in addition to the toxoplasmosis antibody test, you can also do a test known as amniocentesis. This test is done by seeing whether there is t. gondii in your amniotic fluid. However, this test method cannot be used if the gestational age is less than 18 weeks or less than 4 weeks after the mother is diagnosed with Toxoplasma, because it can cause the result to be a false positive.

If the test result is positive and you are not pregnant, what treatment can you do?

If you have experienced toxoplasmosis before becoming pregnant, actually when you are pregnant the fetus will be protected by your body's immune system. However, if you were infected during pregnancy or have just been infected some time before becoming pregnant, you can pass the infection on to the fetus, causing eye and brain problems in the fetus. So, according to experts it is best if you are infected with toxoplasmosis, it is better if you postpone pregnancy for 6 months until it is completely cured.

If you were diagnosed with toxoplasmosis before becoming pregnant, your doctor may recommend Toxoplasma treatment in the form of a combination of the drugs pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine with the addition of leucovorin to prevent haematological toxicity due to pyrimethamine.

These drugs are first-line drugs. If you have an allergy to drugs containing sulfa, sulfadiazine can be replaced by using clindamycin. Azithromycin can also be used as a combination drug in therapy, if you have contraindications to the first-line drug of choice. Treatment therapy against toxoplasmosis can be consumed for 6 weeks or depending on the doctor's recommendation.

If you are pregnant and you have toxoplasmosis, what should you do?

There are two alternative treatments to fight the dangers of Toxoplasma. The choice of drug is determined by whether the fetus has been infected or not. If the fetus has not been infected, spiramycin can be given. This drug aims to prevent transmission from mother to fetus through the placenta.

However, if the fetus is already infected, there are options for pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine drugs. Pyrimethamine is an antagonist of folic acid. However, this drug choice is not recommended during the first 3 months of pregnancy, because it can be toxic to the fetus.

Prevents the dangers of Toxoplasma in pregnancy

In order to protect pregnancy, pregnant women, and babies in the womb from the dangers of Toxoplasma, make sure you have taken the following important steps.

• Routine screening and check with a doctor to make sure there is no toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.
• Use gloves and keep your hands and nails clean, especially if you have to be exposed to objects that have the potential to be exposed to animal waste such as soil, sand, and so on.
• Reduce direct exposure to animals. If you have an animal and you have to get rid of it, wear gloves.
• Always wash your hands and nails. Especially after playing with pets or cleaning animal areas.
• Eat cooked foods (which have been cooked at a temperature of more than 70 degrees Celsius), or if you want to eat chilled foods or meats, choose those that have been frozen to -20 degrees Celsius. Temperature that is too hot or too cold can kill T. gondii.
• Clean all household utensils that have touched raw meat. For example a cutting board, knife, or plate.
• Do not eat raw eggs or unprocessed milk.
• Wash thoroughly first all fruits and vegetables that will be consumed without cooking.
• Make sure the drinking water you consume is clean, not contaminated with oocysts. gondii

It should be noted that storing food in the refrigerator, cooking in a microwave, and eating bacon or dried meat do not kill parasites and thus do not guarantee parasite-free food.

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