General information, not an individual diagnosis. Ask a healthcare professional if you are unsure about your situation.
These preventive measures concern pregnant women who have never had toxoplasmosis, from the start of pregnancy until childbirth. Infection may go unnoticed while affecting the fetus: having no symptoms does not establish immunity.
Wear gloves for gardening or contact with soil, then wash your hands even if the gloves protected them. Ameli recommends washing with soap for at least thirty seconds and brushing the nails, particularly after gardening and after contact with a litter tray.
During pregnancy, ask someone else to clean the cat’s litter tray. Ameli advises cleaning it every day with gloves and water hotter than 70 °C. Bleach is no more effective against the parasite and does not replace these cleaning conditions.
Ameli’s exception requires both conditions: the cat never leaves the apartment and is fed exclusively on parasite-free canned food or parasite-free dry kibble. In that precise situation, the cat is not exposed to toxoplasmosis and these special cleaning measures are unnecessary.
Contaminated soil may also remain on harvested produce. Rinse raw vegetables, aromatic herbs and fruit with clean water to remove every trace of soil. Adding vinegar is unnecessary for this cleaning: the aim is to remove soil contamination.
If you are planning a pregnancy, or are pregnant and not immune, you can consult the occupational health doctor to check whether the job is compatible or consider adjustments. Work involving contact with soil, animals or meat is among the situations with exposure.
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