raw meat and pregnancy, what’s the risk of toxoplasmosis?

[Ldnnursexx]

Hello, looking for some advice.
Im 8 weeks pregnant and stupidly yesterday ate this sandwich from sainsburys, assuming it would be properly cooked/ tested ect only about an hour later i read the description to see it says ‘medium rare beef.’ Im absolutely mortified as have been being so careful with what I eat. I immediately made myself sick, but being an hour after eating it i’m worried damage was already done!
I know the risk is toxoplasmosis, i just want to know how worried i should be.
Is it worth going for a blood test ect? or is it likely ok at this stage of pregnancy?

Thankyou

Contact Sainsbury’s and ask if the meat has been frozen beforehand - this would have eliminated the risk. Also, medium rare means it has been cooked anyway! Even if not, I would say the risk is very very low, but if you’re worried ask your gp.

I have my booking appointment on friday, should i mention it to my midwife then to potentially get a blood test?

I'm on my second pregnancy. I would've eaten this and enjoyed it and not given it a second thought. I would expect a GP or midwife would also say not to worry about it.

You'll be fine. Maybe mention your anxiety to your midwife.

The most dangerous thing you can eat in pregnancy is salad tbh- highest risk of listeria.

The only thing I avoided was pate and organ meat. Rare steak through all 3.

The no deli meat is a US thing, it's fine in UK, Sushi in the UK is safe too btw as its all frozen first.

Have you, somebody you know, or literally anyone ever, got Toxoplasmosis from a Sainsbury’s sandwich before?

God it looks bloody delicious too! 🤤

Sorry, what?

You can’t really tell if you get exposed to toxoplasmosis unless you’re unlucky enough for it to happen for the first time during pregnancy. It doesn’t cause any symptoms. And once you’ve been exposed, you develop immunity to it. I live somewhere where they test you during pregnancy as a standard part of prenatal care, and I have immunity. I have no idea when or where I was exposed.
And it wouldn’t be an easy matter to know where the exposure had come from for a pregnant woman who was affected. Toxoplasmosis lives in raw meat but also in soil and cat faeces. It wouldn’t be easy to pinpoint an infection to a particular sandwich.

Ask your midwife on Friday OP, but probably they will tell you it’s fine and the risk is tiny.

Do not make yourself sick.

You'll be fine, you'd feel very ill if you had toxoplasmosis

Not entirely sure if this is a wind up or not.
I didn't give anything like this a second thought during my pregnancies!

If it's not a wind up then I'd suggest speaking to your midwife about anxieties etc. A sandwich from Sainsbury's will be completely fine and not something that should be over-thought. Let alone making yourself sick for goodness sake!

Would you?
2 minutes on Wikipedia would suggest you don’t know what toxoplasmosis is.

You can have it asymptomatically but if it's bad enough to harm the baby (because the pathogen has multiplied to large numbers) you'd have diarrhoea and a temperature. Op doesn't report having those things. She made herself vomit rather than feeling sick.

Ah that’s interesting. Where I live they test non-immune pregnant women for it every month in case they pick it up during pregnancy so I assumed they always treat it even if it doesn’t cause symptoms but I may have got that wrong. Or they do treat even asymptomatic cases but it’s just a very conservative protocol.

I ate medium rare steak during my pregnancy and me and baby were absolutely fine. I know this is an anxious time but you will be ok x

Ahhhhh first pregnancy worry. It is hell isn’t it OP?

Check with your midwife but I’m sure they will say you will be fine.

There are no symptoms actually.

OP, the risk is very low.