Toxoplasmosis During Pregnancy: Medications
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Medications
Medicine for toxoplasmosis is only needed when the infection affects an unborn baby (fetus) or someone with a very weak immune system. Therefore, although a pregnant woman who has a healthy immune system is not personally at risk when infected, treatment is needed to protect her fetus.
If you are diagnosed with toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, you will be treated with antibiotics.5
- Antibiotic treatment reduces the chances that your fetus will become infected.
- If your fetus becomes infected (diagnosed using amniocentesis), another antibiotic may replace or be added to your treatment. This treatment reduces the severity of fetal toxoplasmosis and related problems after birth.7
- If your newborn has toxoplasmosis, he or she will take antibiotics for the first year of life. This is needed to lower the risk of brain damage and blindness from the infection.
Medication Choices
What To Think About
Antibiotic treatment during pregnancy may not cure a fetal toxoplasmosis infection.1 But some research has shown that it greatly reduces the risk and severity of brain and eye damage.2
| Last updated: | June 27, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS |
| Reviewed By: | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine, Gregory A L Davies, MD, FRCSC, FACOG - Maternal-Fetal Medicine |
| Editors: | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC |
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