And if universal prenatal screening and treatment are as effective in Europe as they seem to be, then they should be seriously considered as part of U.S. Kimberly Lee, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina, who was not involved in the study, said the research was well thought-out.
Screening for the infection could be as cheap as $5 to $10 for each test, Montoya said.ĭr. Different strains of the Toxoplasmoa parasite could be to blame, as could genetic differences between people.īut the explanation Montoya said he sees as most likely is that there are major differences in prenatal care between Europe and the U.S., and this, he said, needs to change. Montoya said the differences in toxoplasmosis infections between North America and Europe is due to a number of factors. Of the 138 infants for whom there was clinical information available, 92 percent had eye disease, 80 percent had brain calcification legions, 68 percent had hydrocephalus and 62 percent had all three conditions concurrently, the researchers found.īy comparison, a 2007 study found that 15 percent of European infants had eye disease, and 6 percent had brain calcification the mothers of these infants were all treated during pregnancy. Their mothers had not been screened or treated for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.Īnd that's where the shock came in we were startled to see how many of the babies were severely damaged, Montoya said. and nine Canadian babies in a medical database who were treated for congenital toxoplasmosis between 19.
In the U.S., however, spiramycin is considered an experimental drug, though doctors can request it from the Food and Drug Administration.įor the new study, the researchers identified 155 U.S. In Europe, doctors give the antibiotic spiramycin to pregnant women infected with toxoplasmosis to try to reduce the likelihood a serious infection will be passed to their developing babies. If infected, infants can suffer severe health problems such as brain damage, blindness and epilepsy. If a mother is infected early on in her pregnancy, the risk of her child getting the infection is relatively low about 1 or 2 percent but this risk rises to 80 percent in later stages of pregnancy, Montoya said. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 60 million people in the country harbor the parasite, but few show symptoms because the immune system usually prevents illness.Īn infant can get congenital (present from birth) toxoplasmosis if his mother is infected for the first time in her life during her pregnancy. Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasmoa gondii, which is usually contracted by eating raw or undercooked meat, or coming in contact with the feces of an infected cat. Congenital toxoplasmosis: from mothers to babies
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