Nanda Second Affiliated Hospital Series Of Science Popularization: The newlywed is a happy event, but the small two are difficult for a "mysterious bug", which is sacred?

Recently, Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang finally ended the love run and entered the palace of marriage, which should have been a joyous thing, but the two were made sad by a small matter, why is this? Originally, the two planned to start preparing for pregnancy after marriage to meet the "little angel", but who knows that the parents of both sides learned that these two people still have cats at home, this is not good, as early as the neighborhood heard that there are "worms" on the cat, the baby will get "deformed", saying that they do not agree to continue to raise, but the two have been raising cats for several years, and how can they say that they can give up, so the two can be described as sad faces. So, what is the true face of this "mysterious bug"? In fact, this is a member of the parasite family that we often hear about in recent years - Toxoplasma gondii

What is Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii full name Gondii, is found in 1908 by the French scholars Nicollle and Marchaux in Tunis, North Africa, a rodent rigid comb toe rat, because of its shape resembling a curved bow, so the name of Toxoplasma gondii, also known as African Toxoplasma gondii, which is a parasite that can be seen with the help of microscopes, often causes a zoonotic disease - Toxoplasmosis.

According to statistics, more than 100 million people around the world are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, and this data is increasing year by year. The earliest case of Toxoplasma gondii in China was in 1964, first reported by scholar Xie Tianhua, that the infected person was a 1-and-a-half-year-old child in Jiangxi Province, and the local hospital found the toxoplasmosis pathogen from his fundus exudate.

Route of transmission

In daily life, Toxoplasma gondii has several ways to sneak into the human body:

(1) Oral infection: eating meat contaminated with Toxoplasma gondii, or in close contact with pets, especially after contact with cat feces, not cleaning up thoroughly in time, etc., will increase the chance of Toxoplasma toxoplasma infection;

(2) Vertical infection: the mother is infected by Toxoplasma gondii when pregnant, and it enters the fetus through the placenta;

(3) The wound is broken in contact with the items contaminated by it;

(4) Receiving contaminated blood products, receiving organ transplants from infected persons, etc. Among them, vertical infection caused by congenital acquisition, the rest of the genus acquired, there have been scholars on 186 cases of abortion pregnant women and their spouses blood test show that: in the pregnant women who were tested, the positive rate of pet owners was 60.11%, and the positive rate of non-pet owners was 38.9%, that is to say, among pregnant women who miscarried, the infection rate of toxoplasma gondii in pet owners was indeed significantly higher than that of those who did not have pets

Pathogenesis characteristics

In general, acquired toxoplasmosis will not have obvious symptoms, while congenital acquisition may be transmitted from the mother to the fetus, causing a series of diseases!

The clinical manifestations of congenital toxoplasmosis are complex. Most babies may be asymptomatic at birth, and some of them develop retinal choroiditis, strabismus, blindness, epilepsy, psychomotor or mental retardation in the first few months or years after birth, and are generally clinically manifested as retinal choroiditis, hydrocephalus, microcephaly, anencephaly, intracranial calcification, etc.

Inspection method

1. First of all, we can take samples (such as peripheral blood, cerebrospinal fluid, subretinal exudate, aqueous humor, pleural fluid, ascites, amniotic fluid, etc.) to the hospital for pathogenic testing, often microscopic examination, inoculation and so on.

2, secondly, you can also carry out serological testing, which is what we commonly call "blood test": this method is actually not limited to the use of blood to check, some other fluids in our body, can also be used for examination, this method is the use of Toxoplasma gondii has a specific antigen, it enters our human body, the human body "guardian army" will produce the corresponding antibodies (IgA, IgM, IgG and IgE), through the detection of these antibodies also to determine the infection, In addition, laboratories can also be tested by indirect fluorescent antibody test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and other methods.

3. Of course, there are also emerging technologies in recent years - molecular biology detection, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time quantitative PCR, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).

Precautions

For the general group, especially pregnant women or pregnant groups, there are mainly the following measures:

(1) Dietary hygiene: the meat eaten should be fully cooked, and the handling of raw food and cooked food needs to be separated by cutting boards and other utensils.

(2) Preconception examination: Expectant mothers must remember to do a physical examination of toxoplasmosis for themselves and cute pets, expectant mothers can go to the hospital for TORCH examination, and cute pets need to be taken to the pet hospital to complete the test.

(3) Pet isolation: Expectant mothers should try to maintain a love distance from cute pets, sleep in the same bed or kiss and lick, etc. for the time being. In addition, cats and cats should be kept at home, fed cooked food or cat food, do not let them prey outside, and pet feces, etc., can be handed over to other family members to be responsible, to minimize contact with pet excrement.

(4) The relevant departments should also strengthen the relevant departments should strengthen the detection and isolation of livestock, poultry and suspicious animals, and establish the necessary quarantine system for meat processing plants; the necessary quarantine system.

After the two small families understood, they immediately came to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanda University to conduct relevant inspections, and the results were as follows:

Don't check don't know, a check is frightened! Xiao Zhang's check suggests that he may have received an "invasion" of Toxoplasma gondii! Xiao Zhang then began to improve further examinations and carry out formal treatment under the guidance of doctors, and during the treatment, doctors also stressed the need for strict contraception and waited for pregnancy after recovery. At this point, a large number of children were relieved, the atmosphere gradually eased down, Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li carefully considered, chose to temporarily keep the pet in a friend's home, and wait for the baby to be born and then take it home!

It is true that pets may bring us such hidden dangers, but if we can be as scientific as the small two, things are not so complicated, and for many people, in the modern society of increasing pressure, pets can accompany us through the joys and sorrows of life, give us the greatest tolerance and kindness, teach us how to understand and take care of small lives, let us become more responsible and empathetic, if it is true that for various reasons can not continue to have pets, please at least find a place for it, rather than abandoning it!

Jiazhen Wu And Bailing Zhang (Department of Clinical Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University)