TOXOPLASMOSIS INFECTIONS AND TREATMENTS

TOXOPLASMOSIS

Toxoplasmosis is a usually asymptomatic infection by the organism Toxoplasma Gondi. It is an infection that occurs by eating improperly cooked foods, exposure to cat's feces, etc. It is mostly asymptomatic but if infected weakly immune people it may show flu-like fever, headaches, painful swollen lymph nodes, and tiredness.

Some times serious confusion, withdrawal mental symptoms, seizures, and lung problems resembling pneumonia may occur. severe inflammation in the retina may result in loss of sight.

Young children, those who are infected with immunocompromising microbes such as HIV, and those who underwent a resent new organ transplantation are subjected to serious symptoms.

Infection during pregnancy may affect the child. Hence pregnant ladies should not have close contact with pet animals like cats as they are the common source of Toxoplasmosis

Generally acute infections are asymptomatic in healthy adults.

Swollen lymph nodes commonly appear in the neck or under the chin followed by the armpits and the groin.

Independent of the treatments the swelling of the lymph nodes slowly will come to normal within two to six or longer months even if the treatment is successful.

Usually the swollen lymph node may occur in adults in a single place but in children in multiple places. 

Latent Phase Since this infection at the beginning is totally asymptomatic in healthy human beings it slowly enters within a few weeks the symptomatic latent phase. Occasional mild flu-like fever with headaches appears with slowly increasing frequency followed by swollen lymph nodes and lesions in the retina and leads to lesions in the alveolar lining which results in the opportunistic infection of Pneumocystis jirovecii. Then the symptoms enter into the heart, skeletal muscle, CNS, and brain.
The infant in the womb and the newborn may be asymptomatic at first but will get the symptoms later in life.
The methods of transmission are through undercooked food, shedding of infectious oocytes by cats, and transplacentally.
The drug of choice for this disease is Pyrimethamine