Most pregnant women in the United States are not routinely screened for toxoplasmosis, and most states do not screen infants for infection. Without specific screening, toxoplasmosis is often difficult to diagnose because the signs and symptoms, when they occur, similar to the more common diseases, such as flu and mononucleosis.
If your doctor suspects you have an infection, you may have a blood test that checks for antibodies to the parasite. Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system in response to the presence of foreign substances, such as parasites. Because these antibody tests can be difficult to interpret, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that all positive results were confirmed by a laboratory specializing in diagnosing toxoplasmosis.
Sometimes you can be tested early in the course of the disease before your body has a chance to produce antibodies. In this case, you may have a negative result, even if you are infected. To be sure, your doctor may recommend retesting a few weeks later.
In most cases, toxoplasmosis negative test result means that you are never infected and therefore are not immune to the disease. If you are at high risk, you can take certain precautions so that you are not infected.
A positive result could mean that you have an active infection, or it could mean that you are being infected and are immune to this disease. Additional tests can determine when the infection occurred, based on the types of antibodies in your blood. This is especially important if you are pregnant or you have HIV / AIDS.
If you are pregnant and have a toxoplasmosis infection today, the next step is to determine whether your baby is also infected. Tests your doctor may recommend include:
If you have developed a life-threatening illness such as encephalitis, you may need one or more imaging tests to check for lesions or cysts in your brain. These include:
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This test uses magnetic fields and radio waves (electromagnetic) to create cross-sectional images of the head and brain. During the procedure, you lie inside a large machine, which contains the donut-shaped magnet surrounded by a coil that sends and receives radio waves.
In response to radio waves, your body produces a faint signal that is picked by the coil and processed into an image by a computer. MRI is non-invasive and poses minimal risk to your health.
Most people who are well do not need the treatment of toxoplasmosis. But if you are healthy and have signs and symptoms of acute toxoplasmosis, your doctor may prescribe the following:
Pyrimethamine (Daraprim). This drug, commonly used for malaria, a folic acid antagonists. This can prevent your body to absorb vitamin B folate (folic acid, vitamin B-9), especially when you take a high dose in the long term. Therefore, your doctor may recommend taking extra folic acid.
Another potential side effects of pyrimethamine include bone marrow suppression and liver toxicity.
If you have HIV / AIDS, the treatment of choice for toxoplasmosis also pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, with folinic acid (leucovorin). An alternative is pyrimethamine taken with clindamycin (Cleocin).
If you are pregnant and infected with toxoplasmosis, treatment may vary depending on where you receive medical treatment.
If infection occurs before 16 weeks of pregnancy, you may receive antibiotics spiramycin. Use of these drugs can reduce your baby's risk of neurological problems from congenital toxoplasmosis. Spiramisin are routinely used to treat toxoplasmosis in Europe, but is still considered experimental in the United States.
If infection occurs after 16 weeks of pregnancy, or if the test shows that your unborn child has toxoplasmosis, you may be given pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine and folinic acid (leucovorin). Your doctor will help you determine the optimal treatment.
If your baby has or is likely to have toxoplasmosis, treatment with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine and folinic acid (leucovorin) is recommended. Your baby's doctor will need to monitor your baby while he was taking this medication.
You tend to start by seeing your family doctor. If you are pregnant, you will probably see your gynecologist, or you may be referred to a doctor who specializes in the health of the fetus (perinatologist). In some instances, you may be referred to a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases.
Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment.
You may want to write a list that includes:
for toxoplasmosis, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
Do not hesitate to ask other questions, as well as < / p>
your doctor may. asked a number of questions, such as:
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