Toxoplasmosis
What are the signs and symptoms of the infection?
Usually this disease has no symptoms. When they do occur, they can include:
fever
sore throat
muscle aches
nausea
swollen lymph nodes
rash
enlarged liver and spleen
Rare complications include inflammation of the heart muscle, called myocarditis,
inflammation of the sac that envelops the heart, called pericarditis, and
inflammation of the lungs, called pneumonitis. People with damaged immune
systems, such as those with HIV, can have more severe infections, such as an
infection of the brain, called encephalitis.
Although the disease is usually not serious for children and adults, it can be
very harmful if a woman passes it to her fetus during pregnancy. This can
happen if the mother becomes infected while pregnant. There usually are no
symptoms of toxoplasmosis in a baby before it is born. But sometimes at birth,
these babies can be quite ill with rash, swollen lymph nodes, enlarged liver
and spleen, yellowing of the skin, eyes, and other tissues, called jaundice, and
problems with the central nervous system. Doctors often find visual problems
caused by eye infection, as well as learning problems, and even mental
retardation in these children months to several years later.
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