To avoid contracting toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, it is important to choose to drink mineral water, eat well-cooked meat and eat well-washed or cooked vegetables and fruits, as well as avoid eating salad away from home and washing your hands several times. One day.
In general, the likelihood of toxoplasmosis infection increases with pregnancy progression, but its contamination is more dangerous during the first trimester of pregnancy, as it can affect fetal development, causing miscarriages or severe malformations.
To prevent infection, recommended protective measures include
Since one form of transmission is the consumption of raw meat or undercooked sausages, it is important that women prefer well-cooked meat to reduce the risk of contamination. In addition to avoiding raw meat consumption to reduce the risk of toxoplasmosis, it is important that pregnant women also wash fruits and vegetables well before eating, as this also prevents other infections. Find out how to properly wash fruits and vegetables.
To prevent toxoplasmosis it is essential to wash your hands before and after preparing food, especially meat, as long as it touches the garden floor, as it may contain parasitic cysts, and after having been in contact with animals that may be infected with the parasite or with your stool.
A good strategy right now is to put the gloves and throw them away, because this avoids direct contact with the protozoa of toxoplasmosis. But still, it’s important to wash your hands after removing your gloves to completely eliminate the risk of infection.
Watch the video below and learn how to wash your hands
Mineral water, which comes in the bottle, is preferable to drink filtered and boiled water, avoiding drinking tap or well water, as the risk of water contamination is higher. In addition, it is not recommended to consume raw milk and dairy products, even if it is a cow or goat.
To avoid toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, contact with animals, especially stray cats, should be avoided, as it is not known whether the animal is infected or not. In addition, contact with animals that are not treated properly not only increases the risk of toxoplasmosis, but also other infections that can lead to complications for pregnant women.
If you have cats at home, you should avoid touching the animal’s sand and faeces and, if you really need to clean them, you should do it daily, wearing gloves and shovel and washing your hands and throwing the gloves away. right after. . It is also important to feed cats only with meat or cooked food, to avoid the development of microorganisms that can contaminate pregnant women.
Treatment of toxoplasmosis during pregnancy usually varies with the severity of the infection of the pregnant woman and depends on gestational age, requiring a blood test to confirm the disease, which usually does not cause symptoms in pregnant women but can be very dangerous. for the baby, which can cause a miscarriage or the baby to be born with problems such as mental retardation, hydrocephalus or blindness. Learn more about toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.