- 1. Wash your hands thoroughly
- 2. Wash and cook food
- 3. Drink only mineral water
- 4. Avoid contact with pet feces
- How to treat toxoplasmosis in pregnancy
In order not to catch toxoplasmosis during pregnancy it is important to choose to drink mineral water, eat well-done meat and eat vegetables and fruits well washed or cooked, in addition to avoid eating salad outside the house and washing your hands several times a day.
Generally, the likelihood of toxoplasmosis infection increases with advancing pregnancy, but its contamination is more dangerous in the first trimester of pregnancy, as it can affect the development of the fetus, causing miscarriage or severe malformations.
To prevent infection, recommended protective measures include:
1. Wash your hands thoroughly
Watch the following video and learn how to wash your hands properly:
To prevent toxoplasmosis it is essential to wash your hands:
- Before and after preparing food; Whenever you touch garden soil; After handling the garbage bag; After handling raw food, such as vegetables or meat; After touching animals, including cats or their belongings, such as sand, feces or toys.
A good strategy at these times is to put on gloves and then throw them in the trash, as this avoids direct contact with the toxoplasmosis protozoan. But even so, it is important to wash your hands after removing your gloves to completely eliminate the risk of infection.
2. Wash and cook food
One way to prevent contamination is to always choose cooked fruits and vegetables and well-done meat, however, if you eat raw fruits and vegetables you should wash and disinfect them before eating them. See how to do it: How to wash fruits and vegetables well.
In addition, you should not eat raw salads outside the home and avoid touching the eggshell of unknown origin and, if you do, wash your hands immediately. It is also important to keep raw food separate from cooked food to avoid contamination and to thaw food completely before cooking, in addition to washing used utensils thoroughly with soap and water.
3. Drink only mineral water
You should prefer mineral water, which comes in a bottle or drink filtered and boiled water, avoiding drinking water from the tap or well, as the risk of water being contaminated is greater.
In addition, you should not consume raw milk and dairy products, even if it is from a cow or goat.
4. Avoid contact with pet feces
To avoid toxoplasmosis in pregnancy, contact with animals, especially stray cats, should be avoided, as the cat is one of the main forms of transmission of this disease.
If you have cats at home, you should avoid touching the animal's sand and feces and, if you really have to clean them, you should do it daily, using gloves and shovel and washing your hands and throwing the gloves in the trash right afterwards.. It is also important to feed cats only cooked meat or food, in order to prevent the development of microorganisms that can contaminate the pregnant woman.
How to treat toxoplasmosis in pregnancy
Treatment for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy usually varies with the severity of the pregnant woman's infection and depends on the gestational age, requiring a blood test to confirm the disease, which normally does not cause symptoms in the pregnant woman but which can be very dangerous for the baby, which can lead to miscarriage or the baby is born with problems such as mental retardation, hydrocephalus or blindness.
Usually, antibiotics such as spiramycin, sulfadiazine or pyrimethamine are indicated for treatment. Find out more details of the treatment at: Treatment for toxoplasmosis.
See also 10 prohibited foods for pregnant women and avoid toxoplasmosis and other diseases.
