Toxoplasmosis - Treatment

Treatment

• Treatment is not necessary in case of toxoplasmosis infection in a health person. Symptoms usually disappear within a period of few weeks.
• For pregnant women or persons who have weakened immune systems, medications are available to treat toxoplasmosis.
• In case of an infected pregnant woman the disease has to be treated with utmost care. Research has shown that treating the mother can help decrease the severity of the disease in the infant but does not necessarily decrease the transmission of the infection from mother to child. Infection in the pregnant mother can be treated with an antibiotic called

  spiramycin

• Kids with weakened immune systems often need to be hospitalized when they develop toxoplasmosis, and those with AIDS may need to take anti-toxoplasmosis medication for life.
• Children born with congenital toxoplasmosis are treated with different combinations of anti-toxoplasmosis medications, usually for 1 year after birth. Treatment of congenital toxoplasmosis typically includes pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine, and leucovorin for one year. Infants are also sometimes given steroids if their vision is threatened or if the protein level in the spinal fluid is high.
• Medications to treat the infection in general are pyrimethamine, sulfonamide drugs, folinic acid, clindamycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.