Toxoplasmosis:

Toxoplasmosis:


Toxoplasmosis (toxo) is an infection caused by a
single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. The infection is most
commonly acquired from contact with cats and their feces or with raw or
undercooked meat

wayes of infection

-touching your hands to your mouth after gardening, cleaning a cat's
litter box, or anything that came into contact with cat feces
-eating raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison
-touching your hands to your mouth after contact with raw or undercooked meat
-organ transplantation or transfusion
symptoms
Although people infected with toxoplasmosis are often unaware of having
this disease, typical symptoms of toxo are flulike symptoms including
swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches and pains that last from a few days
to several weeks. If your immune system is normal, you cannot get the
infection again.

Toxoplasmosis testes

Serological tests measure "antibodies" against Toxoplasma.
Being infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii leads to some weeks
of parasitaemia, that means, that there are many parasites in the blood
(in that time they can be passed on to the unborn baby).

Then the body starts to produce "antibodies" (which can be found in the blood and be measured in serological tests).
They "fight" against the parasites and control the disease, no more
parasites circle in the blood. (and the infection can not be passed on
to the baby any longer)
There are some groups of antibodies.(=Immunoglobulines[Ig]: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgM, IgE).
For diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis usually IgG and IgM (in some cases: IgA) are measured.
Before there happened an infection no antibodies are found. IgG (and, of course, IgM, .. ) is "negative".
When an infection happens, IgG and IgM get "positive".

IgM are "positive" during acute infection and stay positive for a
limited time (depending the methods of test You use). (Maybe 6 months to
a year)
IgG-titers rise during an acute infection, sink slowly again, but stay
positive, and protect against another parasitaemia (and protects so the
unborn baby).

That means, if You find (stable) IgG and no IgM: there had been the
infection longer time ago, and there is protection now (and in the
future). ("latent infection")
If there had been negative testing for Toxoplasmosis earlier in
pregnancy and positive testing later on ("seroconversion"): An acute
infection occoured!
If there are IgG and IgM: the infection happened short time ago, further
investigation can tell about when.If the infection occurred during

pregnancy:

anti-parasitic drugs should be taken until birth to reduce the risk of a fetal infection and
the fetus (unborn baby) should be tested