Toxoplasmosis: methods of transmission, symptoms and treatment

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Caused by a parasite that is able to have a damaging effect on the human nervous system, affect eyes, cause an enlargement of the internal organs, particularly the liver and spleen.

A particular danger of toxoplasmosis is connected with the fact that it affects young people and women during pregnancy.

The causative agent is the simplest of a group of coccidia, and parasites two ways to reproduce sexually and asexually. Unfortunately, toxoplasmosis can easily get sick at home, because the parasite can be present in more than 300 types of mammal.

Ways of infection

The source of infection are always animals that excrete the parasite through saliva, feces, urine, milk. The methods of transmission can be as follows:

• Alimentary.
• Vector-borne, vectors are insects.
• By entering the parasite via damage to the skin.
• Vertical, is transmitted from mother to child during childbirth.
• Causes of toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis can be transmitted by eating undercooked meat, through contact of mucous membranes with raw meat, first of all it concerns people who taste it raw meat.

Transmission occurs by caring for infected animals. A simple disregard for the rules of hygiene stands as one of the main causes of infection, talking about the fact that fruits and vegetables must be washed before eating.

There is an infection and blood transfusions and transplantation of internal organs.

Lose during pregnancy

It is necessary to say that if toxoplasmosis infection occurs in the early stages of pregnancy it leads to the death of the fetus. If the infection is diagnosed in the second half of pregnancy, the child is born with a generalized lesion of all systems and organs. In this case, the child will be the characters state with a yellow tinge of the skin, elevated temperature, enlargement of many internal organs, pathology of the nervous system.

Toxoplasmosis at this stage can cause blindness, strabismus, disrupt the development of the spinal cord and brain.

Symptoms

If we talk about the disease is acquired, its development period in humans can last up to 23 days. If the incubation period is determined by the acute attacks of the disease, externally they all look like typhus.

The patient at this time is experiencing not only high temperatures but also General weakness, pain in joints and head. When this occurs the enlargement of the spleen, liver, lymph nodes.

Whatfor chronic disease, then you can allocate the following manifestations:

• Sudden onset of fever, weakness, constant feeling of fatigue begins to disrupt the memory. Often the patient falls either into apathy or, on the contrary, becomes extremely irritable.
• Headaches moving the phase constant and dull, and pain in muscles and joints leads to disruption of the mobility of the patient. If the parasite infects the gastrointestinal system, the patient is experiencing along with pain in the stomach, constant flatulence, dry mouth amid declining appetite.
• Can have toxoplasmosis influence on the heart, symptoms appear pressing pain and lowering blood pressure can often be tachycardia or changes, rhythm disorders of the heart muscle.

Treatment

Any treatment can be administered only on the basis of clinical manifestations. If the process is acute, it can be assigned to chemotherapy and drugs and Fansidar delagil. Treatment in this case goes along with the antibiotic, tetracycline.

In addition, secondary drugs, but in the complex, there are various vitamins, antihistamines are used, for example, the most famous – suprastin tavegil. Intradermally may be prescribed drugs Toxoplasma. Important role and immunomodulatory drugs.

The consequences

A person has a healthy, the disease is completely curable and after immune for life. Effects of lesions of the organs can be only in case if a person has a weakened immune system, and this may be a consequence of AIDS.

As we wrote above, the consequences are primarily manifested in the congenital form of toxoplasmosis, which, if the fetus dies, then the child remains pathology.