toxoplasmosis

[yummicheddars]

Soo can you be asked to be tested if your immune to this? I am worried as I emptied cat tray earlier into the outside bin and due to the wind loads blew all over me!

Presumably you went in and washed yourself, though? Did it blow in your face or mouth? Sure you'll be OK, but you could ask your midwife about it.

I asked about being tested for this when i was pregnant, its not something they do as far as I know - and I was refused. Other European countries are quite big on testing for this.

My midwife told me to stop reading so much on the internet - clearly had me down as a worrier!

Toxo isn't as common in the UK cat populous as people think. I really wouldn't worry. There's more of a chance, or at least equal a chance you'd get it from salami or improperly prepared veg. Have a look at the NHS site for some reassurance.
If you have a cat that hunts, or eats raw meats at all then it's more likely to be a carrier.
If you change the tray every day (within 24h), then your chance of infection are less due to the cycle of the toxo.
Usual route in is through the mouth, but, again, even if it was inhaled/some got in your mouth, your cat is very unlikely to have had toxo in the first place.
Also, there's a good chance you've actually had toxo before, (often presents as a cold/mild flu) and are thus "immune",not quite that simple, but, well, worth mentioning.
Basically, don't worry BUT if you do feel fluish at any point, it's worth mentioning to your GP.

Yea I breathed it in. Was discusting.. I have had cats all my life so probably had it before

Why not just get tested? I was tested, didn't have the antibodies despite having had cats all my life so they kept re-testing me with my monthly blood test.

Will mention it tomorrow when I see my midwife. See if she can test me

I begged my MW to give me the blood test (after consuming my own body weight in Parma ham) which she did a few weeks ago. Now however, I'm too nervous to get the result. Did some reading on the subject and apparently if you have, say, eaten cured meat your whole life the chances are you are immune anyway but all the test will show is that you are positive for the antibodies. It will give no indication as to when you encountered the virus, so it might be 10 years or 10 days ago. Therefore not that helpful. Does that sound correct to everyone?
Poor MW, whenever I see her now I can tell she is just praying I don't take another piece of paper out of the bag with the words "I was just reading online...."

Hi,
i think its one of those things, some people are NOT immune despite a life time of keeping cats, grubbing in the dirt and so on. Get tested. I ate rare venison over Christmas and am beside myself with worry . Some people are very, very unlucky and catch it after only one exposure. I don't want to cause you unecessary worry but it is better to know as there are things they can do to help prevent transmission to fetus and you will know one way or another. It is very rare to catch it during pregnancy and not all babies get infected (in fact congenital toxo is extremely rare but it does occur) , so try to stay positive. I begged my GP for the test which will be done a clear 23 days after my exposure to ensure i don't get a false negative.
Good luck.

bonbonpixie if you test positive they will retest to start working out when you were exposed. Many positive results are nothing to worry about. I am hoping to God that mine comes back compeletly negative so there is an end to it then and there.

My midwife said specifically that I could eat Parma ham and not to worry. In fact the only thing she said I shouldn't eat was Parmesan (not pasteurised, apparently!). She said Mozzarella was OK too. Thing is, I was asking bearing in mind I was going to be spending Christmas in Italy, and I don't know if she took that into account - could be that proper Italian cured meat & cheese is different to the stuff you buy in England. So I have been (mostly) staying off the cured ham and only eating cooked Mozzarella (e.g on pizzas)
I was surprised, though. Everything I've read says not to eat cured meats, but she was very definite that it wasn't a problem.

Just read the NHS website again - Parma Ham is not ok (this is collaborated by data on the Toxoplasmosis Trust website) also hard cheeses are ok (such as Parmesan) are ok to eat even though they aren't pasteurised. Please be aware.

thanks bonbonpixie, eating rare/raw and cured meats is potentially dangerous and really best avoided. Midwives in general don't appear to be very clued about about food poisoning. On another thread someone said their midwife told her not to worry- she'd know if she ever had listeria! Completely untrue, listeria can have an incubation rate of up to 10 weeks so when you have flu like symptoms or vomit are you (or your doctor) really going to link it to the pate or cheese you ate over 2 months ago? I don't think so. NB listeria is far rare than toxoplasmosis to catch. Let pray we and babies are all safe (and there is a very very good chance we are)

Each time I tell someone in my home country that pregnant women aren't tested for toxoplasmosis in the UK their chins fall to the floor. There it's one of the first and major blood done.

I asked, my MW tested. no questions asked.

My MW wouldn't test me despite there being plenty of my neighbours' cats' poo when I'm gardening and lambs in the next door field. My French SIL gets tested every month .

Not heard about parma ham being a banned substance - the NHS site doesn't blacklist it (it's about the only thing that isn't blacklisted!).

tommy's have a great leaflet on the risks of toxoplasmosis,

do talk to your midwife about getting tested, but please don't panic it is really unlikely.

plinkertyplonk that's because the advice on the NHS pages for pregnant women and what they can and can't eat is confusing and misleading. You have to look at specific info on Toxoplasmosis to see for instance that meat should be cooked thoroughly- not just the outside sealed (which does stop some types of food poisoning but won't kill the toxo parasite).
www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1107.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=137
Under causes of toxo you will see parma ham and salami.
also here
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Toxoplasmosis/Pages/Causes.aspx

sadly i ate undercooked venison and parma ham before i knew it should be avoided and am waiting to be tested. Agree with neverknowingly Tommy's have great online leaflet. I do think the NHS foods section needs to be updated as it is misleading , and pregnancy books that I have do NOT mention Venison as being risky, that may well be because that information is new and books take a while to be printed etc

My understanding was that good quality meat was fine to eat undercooked if it was a joint (ie rather than minced) and well cooked on the outside ie 'sealed'.

Would love to know the risk relative to other 'illegal' food. Anyone know? Personally, I can't get too excited about it. Yes, there's a risk but, as I understand it, it's very low and one I'm willing to accept, although I appreciate not everyone shares my point of view.

plinkertyplonk cooking the outside of joints will stop the risk of things such as salmonella (except in chicken and other poultry ,which need to be cooked all the way through), E.coli, and campylobactor. Minced meats can be contaminated by bacteria /germs throughout due to food productions methods so they need to be cooked thoroughly. BUT the toxoplasmosis parasite does not live just on the outside of meat. They are cysts and various other nasty things that are present throughout toxo infected meats, including venison, pork, beef (seems rarer in beef but not without risk) , lamb, cured meat and more. It can only be killed by freezing the meat for long enough or by cooking until the centre is no longer pink- i think its until the temp is 67-70C. Veg and salad need to be washed for similar reasons as soil can be infected.

Yes its rare but there was a very sad post on here from a woman who lost her baby at 21 weeks due to toxo infection. Its just as likely to catch it from food as from cats.

I have emailed the editor of the NHS website as i think the food page is very misleading and needs to be urgently reviewed .

Wow, I didn't know about parma ham or salami , I've been using the NHS website as well. thanks blackcatsdancing, that's good of you to email them.

So finally plucked up the courage to get my toxo test results. Thankfully my blood test from the middle of December was negative.
Do you think I should ask to be tested again in say a few weeks? I think someone mentioned that this was the current protocol overseas.

according to everything i've read you need to allow 23 days from exposure to ensure the antibodies your body will make (if infected) are present in your blood. So it depends on what you ate/ did and when. I know my last risky meal was on 25th December so if i test negative i won't ask for another one.
I am so pleased for you! If i test negative i shall just be so vigilant about what i eat and how i prepare food as nothing is worth this stress. If i test positive i shall have to be retested to see when i caught it- hopefully a long time ago.

I have been worrying about this since I ate a rare steak in November. I was following NHS advice which says that steaks and whole cuts are fine as long as they're cooked on the outside. I can't understand why they say this kind of rare meat is fine when it is the most common way to catch toxoplasmosis, which is far more common than listeria.

veronica i share your concerns. I too thought rare whole cuts were ok until i delved further. If it is any comfort beef appears to be a lower risk than other meats but research on causes is scant as toxoplamosis very rarely causes any problems in the healthy population and so is not taken seriously . I have emailed the NHS website editor to ask for the foods to avoid page to be amended as it is giving misleading incomplete and potentially dangerous information.

It seems really bizarre. I only found out about all this because I am research obsessed, but I'd already eaten my steak! It really needs sorting out, as most people will never even see the Tommy's leaflet because the NHS page is so reassuring, and one assumes that they are ultra cautious (e.g. not even mentioning that Lion stamped eggs are from salmonella vaccinated chickens ).