Toxoplasmosis- ate a medium rare steak

[Peonyyyy]

I don’t have steak often at all but I went to a nice restaurant recently and it was the only thing I wanted on the menu. It was medium rare and I’d decided I wanted to eat it because I (incorrectly) thought the only risk when pregnant was food poisoning. And I figured that was highly unlikely in a nice restaurant and as I’ve never had food poisoning in my life.

Afterwards I found out the risk is actually toxoplasmosis, and that even if it was seared on the outside the meat can still be contaminated in the middle if the cow was infected. And that toxoplasmosis can cause quite bad problems with the baby if it crossed the placenta (I’m 22 weeks). I feel terrible, I never would’ve had it if I’d known. I really feel like the guidelines need to be more clear, I always thought toxoplasmosis was just in cat poo.

Please can someone advise or reassure me if you have had experience of this or if you know how common/rare it is. I couldn’t sleep last night worrying about it 😞

I ate rare steak the whole pregnancy. Currently sat next to my perfect 6 week old.

Presumably toxoplasmosis would also cause some sort of illness in the person who ate the steak and I have never heard of anyone getting sick from eating steak. I think you'll be fine. I ate rare steak when pregnant, had no idea you weren't meant to to be honest.

Honest question, why would you do this when you know there’s risks of miscarriage? Just because you didn’t get unlucky, the risk was still there. Just seems odd.

@WonderingWanda apparently not - apparently most of the time we are unaware we’ve had a toxoplasmosis infection as people who are not immunocompromised usually have no symptoms. Apparently it’s only bad when you’re pregnant because it can cause the baby to have brain damage, eye problems, still birth (can you tell I’ve been googling!)

but thank you both it’s reassuring to know you both did and haven’t had any problems x

Not necessarily. I had toxoplasmosis without symptoms, only found out via chance when being tested for something else

What happened @Imperrysmum ? X

Nothing, everything was fine. I’m sure you’ll be fine, statistically you will be fine 😊

It's a genuine risk, but it's very very rare. There's nothing you can do about it now, just trust that you won't be in the unlucky minority.
www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/pregnancy-complications/infections/toxoplasmosis-pregnancy#:~:text=Even%20if%20you%20do%20become,with%20toxoplasmosis%20in%20the%20UK. www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/pregnancy-complications/infections/toxoplasmosis-pregnancy#:~:text=Even%20if%20you%20do%20become,with%20toxoplasmosis%20in%20the%20UK.]]

What do you think pregnant women in France eat!

Read ‘Expecting Better’ by Emily Oster. Makes you realise how over cautious most pregnant advice is, and limited evidence

@Peonyyyy

It's very unlikely anything will happen. You can get a private test for toxo in the U.K. if you want to see if you have the antibodies, although it won't provide any reassurance if you don't (i had what I thought might be symptomatic toxi in my twenties and wanted to see if it was that when I got pregnant out of curiosity, and it was!)

Also medium rare will have such a small amount of uncooked meat too, would be very unlikely to contract toxi from that

(If you've ever owned a cat and had to clean its litter you may have antibodies. For me, it was a pack of unwashed veg...)

@Peonyyyy with steak you're actually usually okay as the bacteria that causes the illness sits on the outside which is cooked. It's minced meat you need to be careful of as it's all mixed together so no rare burgers etc 🙂

I work in a job with a comparatively high risk of toxo, and have been in this industry for 20 years. I also eat rare steak regularly. Hence I asked for a toxo antibody test a few months ago at the start of pregnancy. Turns out I have never even been exposed to it! The risk is extremely tiny OP.

Agree that pregnant women are often given very, very over cautious advice that causes panic in situations like this. I also second the book "Expecting Better" by Emily Oster, who looks at the actual evidence behind pregnancy advice.

Don’t worry at all. In my last pregnancy my doctor even said, ‘Don’t get too tied up on eating rules. If you want a rare steak, have one.’ The risk is absolutely tiny so do not beat yourself up over one steak!

If you have owned a cat or done gardening in the past then the chances are you have already been exposed and are immune already. The risk is only from a first infection during pregnancy.

I was fully aware of this when pregnant I don't know how you could have missed it. Then I did read a lot.

I've eaten raté steak all my life, had cats, don't wash veg (except in pregnancy), out in the garden digging soil all the time.
I've never had toxo (blood tests show this). The risk is very very low.

But

I've been where you are in this pregnancy and previously. When I've slipped up on something like this I worry. It's natural to and our hormones exaggerate things. If you still feel anxious about it in a few days then chat to your midwife/ doctor to check if you need any extra support with anxiety. Hopefully the reassurance you get here combined with a few days of distractions will let the worry fade.

You can get a private test for toxoplasmosis. It can show you if you have antibodies or not (if not no need to worry) and if you have antibodies, if the infection is likely to be recent or not.

this is what I was told - but you should check with your doctor.

Thank you so much everyone 😊

Yep its a very very small risk, I ate rare steak throughout both my pregnancies and was fine. Also have 3 cats and I cleaned out their litter trays, obviously using a scoop and washing my hands thoroughly, but you would wash thoroughly wouldn't you!