Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the Toxoplasma gondii. In adult humans, these infections usually cause no particular symptoms; Sometimes a mild flu-like illness may occur, characterized by muscle aches and lymphadenopathy, lasting approximately 2-8 weeks (very rarely, eye impairment appears).
If infection occurs during pregnancy, the unborn child can contract the so-called congenital toxoplasmosis and remain seriously (as well as irreversibly) compromised.
Diet and overall hygiene are the most important factors in preventing contagion. The disease is rarely spread by blood transfusions and cannot be spread otherwise.
The parasite only reproduces in cats; however, it can infect most warm-blooded animals, which is why its cysts can be found in various edible meats.
The diagnosis is made by blood analysis (referring to antibodies) or, in the pregnant woman, by verifying the presence of parasitic DNA in the amniotic fluid. In healthy people, no treatment is usually needed; during pregnancy, however, drugs such as spiramycin or pyrimethamine / sulfadiazine and folinic acid can be used.
Half of the world's population (most in developing countries) is infected with Toxoplasma gondii and shows no symptoms; Unfortunately, around 200,000 cases of congenital toxoplasmosis are diagnosed each year.
Food and Contagion
A multicentre European case-control study concluded that the consumption of raw and undercooked meat is the main source of contagion in pregnancy, while contact with contaminated soil contributes to a much smaller rate of infections.
Toxoplasmosis infection can develop in several ways:
- Eating raw or undercooked food contaminated with cysts of the Toxoplasma gondii (or raw milk containing tachyzoites);
- For oral exposure to the faeces of infected cats.
- From infected mother to child during pregnancy.
- For organ transplants or blood transfusions from toxoplasma positive donors.
The first two are food and fecal-oral infections, which occur mainly in the following circumstances:
- Ingestion of raw or insufficiently cooked meat. Not surprisingly, the prevalence of infections is in countries where it is customary to consume meat that has not undergone heat treatment (or undercooked).
Tissue cysts can also be ingested by putting hands to mouth while processing the product or by using contaminated knives, various utensils and cutting boards. - Ingestion of unwashed fruit or vegetables, which have come into contact with soil contaminated with feces of infected cats (for example, products from your own garden).
- Ingestion of contaminated cat faecal debris through hand-to-mouth transmission (for example, by eating a snack while gardening or after cleaning the litter box or after touching sand on which a cat has previously defecated).
Preventive Diet
The diet to prevent toxoplasmosis mainly affects pregnant women who, if infected, can transmit the parasite to the fetus, making it seriously ill.
Congenital toxoplasmosis contracted in the first weeks of gestation is associated with fetal death and abortion and, in survivors, is accompanied by neurological deficits, neurocognitive deficits and chorioretinitis.
If the mother has already contracted toxoplasmosis she is considered less at risk, as she already has the specific antibodies and should no longer get sick in acute form.
In the event that the woman has never fallen ill with toxoplasmosis, the most important preventive dietary rules for dealing with a pregnancy are:
- Stock up with the safest foods possible.
- Work food in a hygienically correct way.
- Do not clean the cat's litter box and wash your hands thoroughly before bringing any food to your mouth.
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