Toxoplasmosis

• Toxo

  arc
• Plasma


  form
• T. gondii first discovered by Nicolle and Manceaux in 1908 while researching Leishmania
• T. gondii causes harm in immune-compromised patients (ex: AIDS)
• T. gondii parasitizes nearly all mammals and many birds because immune system kicks in and shuts them down
• T. gondii is found in Ctenodactylus gondii and lab rabbit or rodents
• T. gondii kills marsupials and wallabies as their body does not learn how to live with it
• feline or cats can only host T. gondii because they have the right proteins and enzymes to host it, no other organism or species can
• an unsporulated T. gondii cannot infect a human, only sporulated can
• an unsporulated T. gondii takes 1 to 4 days to become sporulated (containing 8 sporozytes)
• when a human inject a sporocyst it goes inside the gut and then multiplies, then spreads throughout the rest of the body
• tachzoite


  multiplying rapidly
• bradyzoite


  cyst or dormant stage
• Once T. gondii has read throughout the whole body, after time the immune system will kick in and slow down the multiplication of tachzoite stage and then a cyst will form
• if someone with T. gondii does not get treatment the cycle from tachzoite to bradyzoite will continue to repeat itself
• Transmission of T. gondii in humans: eating uncooked meat, unpasteurized milk, airborne, or from mother to fetus
• Clindamycin is a drug that can help with T. gondii
• hydrocephalus: a condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain, and enlarges the head; the child will die
• T. gondii is threatening to fetuses if the mother gets it for the first time while pregnant and can result in miscarriage or mental retardation
• chemotherapy may help pregnant women that contract T. gondii while pregnant to develop a healthy baby and pregnancy