Toxoplasmosis

What are the signs and symptoms of the infection?

Usually this disease has no symptoms. When they do occur, they can include:

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.