To avoid toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, it is important to drink mineral water, eat well-cooked meat and eat well-washed or cooked vegetables and fruits, as well as avoid eating salad outside the house and washing hands several times a day.
Generally, the likelihood of toxoplasmosis infection increases with the advancement of gestation, but its contamination is more dangerous in the first trimester of pregnancy, as it may affect the development of the fetus, causing miscarriage or severe malformations.
To prevent infection, the recommended protective measures include:
1. Wash hands thoroughly
Watch the following video and learn how to wash your hands properly:
To prevent toxoplasmosis, it is essential to wash hands:
- Before and after preparing food;
- Whenever touching land from the garden;
- After fiddling with the trash bag;
- After handling raw foods, such as vegetables or meat;
- After touching animals, particularly cats or in their belongings, like sand, faeces or toys.
A good strategy at this time is to put on gloves and then throw them in the trash, as this prevents direct contact with the toxoplasmosis protozoan. But even so, it is important to wash your hands after removing the gloves to completely eliminate the risk of infection.
2. Washing and cooking food
One way to prevent contamination is to always choose for cooked fruit and vegetables and for well-seasoned meat, however, if you eat raw fruits and vegetables you should wash them and disinfect them before eating them. Here's how to do it: How to wash fruits and vegetables well.
Also, do not eat raw salads outside the home and avoid touching the shell of the egg of unknown origin, and if you do, wash your hands immediately. It is also important to keep raw foods separate from cooked foods to prevent contamination and thaw all food before cooking, as well as washing the utensils used 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 ingesting water from the tap or well, because the risk of contaminated water is greater.
In addition, milk and its raw milk derivatives should not be consumed, even if it is cow or goat.
4. Avoid contact with pet feces
To avoid toxoplasmosis in pregnancy, contact with animals, especially street cats, should be avoided because cat is one of the main forms of transmission of this disease.
If you have cats at home, you should avoid touching the sand and feces of the animal, and if you have to clean them, you should do it daily, using gloves and shovel and washing hands and throwing in the garbage soon after . Also it is important to feed the cats only of cooked meat or ration, so as to avoid 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 infection of the pregnant woman and depends on the gestational age, and a blood test is necessary to confirm the disease, which usually does not cause symptoms in the pregnant woman but can be very dangerous for the baby, which can lead to miscarriage or the baby being born with problems such as mental retardation, hydrocephalus or blindness.
Usually antibiotics, such as spiramycin, sulfadiazine, or pyrimethamine, are indicated for treatment. Learn more details of treatment in: Treatment for toxoplasmosis.
See also 10 forbidden foods for pregnant women and avoid toxoplasmosis and other diseases.
