And some medical treatments can protect you and your baby if the parasite infects you during pregnancy. The good news: if you already have it before getting pregnant, your body has already developed the necessary antibodies to protect you and your baby. The parasite becomes a part of our already complex microbiome.Ī problem arises when the parasite infects pregnant or immunocompromised people. Though infected, they don’t actually “have Toxo.” Short-term, they may experience cold or flu-like symptoms but generally, they are just passive carriers (and delicious meals). The parasite infects many people, but most of them show no symptoms. The nasty bug itself: Toxoplasma gondii (boooo)
Also different from bacteria such as Listeria, which can live freely in the environment, this bug must live inside cells and has a very complicated life-cycle. As opposed to the many bacterial and viral culprits I’m terrified of, this one is actually a eukaryote called an apicomplexan. It’s a disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Interview with the Internet Q: What actually is toxoplasmosis? So with that, I present a brief Q & A featuring the sometimes trusty google and our new vet.
Last week our family nearly doubled: we adopted two kitties! While I’m inclined to spend this post gushing about how adorable they are, instead I’m going to address the parasite (potentially) in the room: toxoplasmosis (aka Toxo).Īs I’ve already had unfortunate experiences with microbial infections during pregnancy, one thing at the forefront of my mind when we adopted was whether I should be concerned about our son, or about future pregnancies.
0 kommentar(er)
