Many young people keep cats and dogs to enrich their emotional life, relieve the pressure of work, and promote physical and mental health. Pets have become companions in their lives. But when they plan to get married or have children, they are advised to give their pets to others for fear of contracting toxoplasmosis in pregnant women. Many owners are unwilling and reluctant to break up with the baby they get along with day and night, but they are worried that the health of the fetus will be affected. For a time, they were in a dilemma.

In fact, as long as you pay attention to scientific protection and hygiene, cats, dogs and healthy babies can have both. So what should they do? Before the hostess becomes pregnant, a test called TORCH can be done, which will find out if the mother-to-be is infected with Toxoplasma gondii. The word TORCH is a combination of the first letters of the English names of several pathogens. The letter T stands for Toxoplasma.

If the TORCH test shows that you have been infected with Toxoplasma gondii, you don't have to worry, because the hostess has already produced antibodies in her body, so it doesn't matter. If it shows that it has never been infected, it means that there is no immunity in the body, so pay attention to the way you feed your pet and your own dietary hygiene throughout your pregnancy.

If the results show an ongoing infection, you cannot get pregnant for the time being. However, if in the early stage of pregnancy (within 3 months), when the owner's TORCH test shows that it is infected, the pregnancy must be terminated, because the infection of Toxoplasma gondii at this time has a serious impact on the development of the fetus.

The gynecology department of general tertiary hospitals in China can provide TORCH test. The main route of infection of toxoplasmosis We know that human toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the parasitic Toxoplasma gondii in the human body, which is relatively common around the world. Almost all mammals and birds can be infected with Toxoplasma gondii.

The main source of infection for humans is the consumption of meat from these animals, especially raw meat. Also handle cooked food; moreover, eating unpasteurized dairy products, unwashed or raw vegetables and fruits can also cause infection.

Cats and Toxoplasma gondii Toxoplasma gondii parasitizes the intestinal mucosa of cats, and cats are the ultimate host of Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma gondii can be transmitted to humans by the feces of cats infected with Toxoplasma gondii. But after the eggs are released, they may not be contagious until at least 24 hours later.

So if you clean up the feces in time every day, you will reduce the chance of being infected. What's more, a cat excretes Toxoplasma eggs in feces only once in its lifetime, after it is first infected with Toxoplasma gondii. So doctors think: It's unlikely that they happen to excrete the organism during a woman's pregnancy.

The American Feline Association (CFA) survey shows that from the source of human infection, the degree of infection of Toxoplasma gondii from cat feces is actually not as serious as that of people eating undercooked meat. Domestic cats can become infected with Toxoplasma gondii throughout their lives, usually by eating dead mice, moles, squirrels or other small infected animals. Cats that live completely indoors and have never been in contact with mice may never be infected.

Dogs and Toxoplasma gondii Dogs are the intermediate hosts of Toxoplasma gondii, and can also infect Toxoplasma gondii, but their feces and excrement are not infectious, so simple contact with dogs will not be infected with Toxoplasmosis. Adults and Toxoplasma gondii Generally, most adults infected with Toxoplasma gondii have no obvious symptoms, or the symptoms are very mild, and some may have flu-like low-grade fever, runny nose, swollen lymph nodes, headache, muscle and joint pain and abdominal pain, etc. Mild symptoms, after a few days, the body naturally produces immunity, and the symptoms disappear and heal itself.