Toxoplasmosis in pregnancy: prevention tips
Introduction
If you are at the beginning of your pregnancy journey or are thinking about having a baby, you have undoubtedly heard of toxoplasmosis during pregnancy . There are many questions surrounding this topic.
What is toxoplasmosis? What foods should you avoid to prevent it? If you are asking yourself these questions, the article in the next lines is for you.
As you can see, I have also included an index. I did this to allow you, if you are interested in a particular angle of the topic, to delve deeper into it simply by clicking on the title of the corresponding paragraph.
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Now, enough chit chat: let's get to the heart of a topic that any future mother should read up on.
We do it - I'll give you a little spoiler - with the guidance of the precious advice of Doctor Federica Dell'Oro, a nutrition biologist part of the DrSilva.com team as well as the author of the video course on nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding that you can find at the end of the paragraph.
Toxoplasmosis: What is it?
Let's start with the basics, trying to understand what we're talking about when we mention toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.
As Doctor Dell'Oro specifies at the beginning of this video content , toxoplasmosis is an infection transmitted to humans by a protozoan: Toxoplasma gondii .
It is a microorganism that can infect various animals.
Among these we can mention mammals, birds, but also reptiles.
Technically defined as a zoonosis , toxoplasmosis is transmitted specifically through the ingestion of infected meat.
Warning: the parasite is also present in other contexts. Among these, it is possible to include cat feces.
Also not to be forgotten are the lands where the feline - or any other infected animal - has freed itself.
In healthy adults, toxoplasmosis infection almost never causes symptoms and is not a dangerous condition.
The situation changes when a pregnant woman contracts the zoonosis.
In fact, the infection can involve the fetus . How? By passing through the placenta.
The consequences are potentially very serious.
In fact, we are talking about malformations, abortions and MEF (fetal intrauterine death) .
This is why, from the very beginning of pregnancy, it is essential that the future mother puts at the center of her daily routine some dietary precautions aimed at preventing contagion by the protozoan.
I would like to underline that, to date, there is no vaccine against toxoplasmosis.
The only way a pregnant woman can protect herself is to pay attention to what she eats .
Equally important is the hygiene of the spaces where food is prepared.
In the next paragraph, we will see in detail the advice that every pregnant woman should follow to prevent toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.
