Toxoplasmosis reassurance please??

[LMonkey]

Hi. I'm going to sound a bit silly as it's my own fault. I'm 27 weeks preg (2nd pregnancy). I went out for lunch yesterday, ordered steak for the main (after being gutted about missing out on the goats cheese for starter!). I asked for it to be cooked medium to well done as I thought this would be cooked enough (normally I'm a medium-rare girl). When I ate the steak it was slightly pink still and not cooked as well as I thought it would be. Now I've been reading up on toxoplasmosis and am freaked out. I've got a MW appointment in a weeks time and she was going to take bloods then so I am going to ask about being tested but I know that will be too soon to test for it as it should be 3 weeks after possible infection so I will have to wait until the following appointment which will be 3 weeks after that one. It just freaks me out that the stuff I have read says that there aren't necessarily any symptoms for the mother and the baby could appear to be healthy at birth then develop problems or possibly die after birth, or could be stillborn. I really want to enjoy Christmas and now I'm just going to be worried about this! Just looking for reassurance really. Thanks in advance for any replies.

If you normally have it rare likely you would have caught it previously (or if you have cats)

From what I've heard toxiplasmosis is most likely picked up from unwashed vegetables or when gardening (as well as from cats).

As long as all sides are seared you could have had it medium rare and it wound be fine.

You have nothing at all to worry about.

You most likely have had it before. It is a mild disease in adults, you probably wouldn't have noticed it. Talk to your MW to reassure yourself but in the meantime, don't fret about it

Try not to stress too much.
In meat it's more common in pork, venison and lamb.
The bacteria on beef is present on the outsides of the cut, so should be fine once seared.
You could have had it already without realising, apparently in healthy people it can be like having a mild cold and sometimes not even that.

This happened to me too about 6 weeks ago and I got all freaked out, but I've not had any experiences to suggest that anything is wrong, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the best really :) If I were you I'd try to put it out of your mind and focus on other things.

Sorry to correct PPs, but current advice is that meat must be fully cooked through to avoid the risk of toxo - the advice about the risk being on the outside is outdated.

That said, you are most likely immune having eaten rare meat regularly, and we unfortunately don't test as standard in the UK.

Talk to your midwife, but to be honest, you're unlikely to do any harm. It's rare and the advice errs on the side of caution.