Tips for preventing this condition:
- Avoid undercooked meats.
- Freeze meat to minus 20 degrees Celsius for 2 days.
- Wash hands after handling raw meat.
- Protect children's play areas from cat and dog feces.
- Wash your hands thoroughly after contact with soil that may be contaminated with animal feces.
- Pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems should avoid cleaning cat litter boxes and materials that are potentially infected with cat feces. They should also avoid materials that could be contaminated by insects exposed to cat feces (cockroaches, flies, etc.).
- Pregnant women should have a blood test for toxoplasmosis.
- Patients with
HIV disease should have blood tests to screen for toxoplasmosis.
References
Liesenfeld O. Toxoplasmosis. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 370.
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Review Date: 12/01/2009
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine; Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in
Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division
of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts
General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
