Toxoplamosis Gondii Flashcards
1
Q
Cat life cycle
A
1) Oocytes in faeces
2) infectious after 1-5 days
3) rat eats eggs
4) cyst formation in rat
5) cat eats infected rat
6) cat after infection actively excretes Oocytes ~3 weeks
2
Q
Human transmission
A
- ingest Oocytes
- ingest tissue stages
- raw goats milk
- congenital
- organ transplant
- blood transfusion
3
Q
Symptoms
A
- Toxoplasmosis ( opportunistic infection) –> re activation of latent infections due to immunosuppression with organ transplants and certain cancer treatment
- 25-50% of aids patient with chronic toxoplasmosis –> encephalitis
- retinochorditis, pneumonia is, myocarditis and myositis–> in conjunction with immunosuppression
4
Q
Definitive host, intermediate host, disease, distribution , localisation
A
Definitive host- animal from cat family (in epithelial cells of small intestine)
Intermediate host - any other vertebrate ( mammal, birds, human) in tissue and extra intestinal
Disease- toxoplasmosis
Distribution- worldwide
Localisation-
- liver, spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes
-muscles ( skeletal and cardiac)
- CNS
5
Q
Toxoplasmosis in adults and children
A
- benign and asymptomatic
- if symptoms occur–> generally mild and typically like mononucleosis with chills, fever, headache, myalgia, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes.
- symptoms are self limiting and resolve within weeks to months
6
Q
Retinochorditis
A
- Inflammation of retina and choroid( thick vascular area at back of eye)
- can result from congenital infections or from acute or re activated infections acquired postnatally
- congenitally–> develop weeks to years after birth
7
Q
Diagnosis, prevention
A
- serological testing
- microscopy: blood, spinal fluid
Prevention
- avoid sandbox contamination with cat faeces
- avoid raw or undercooked meat
- washing hands after handling raw meat
- washing fruits and vegetables
- before pregnancy to do the toxoplasmosis test
- during pregnancy avoid contact with ( unknown) cats –> especially cat litter boxes
