Toxoplasmosis

[RichardD]

I don't know that I contracted this on the trail but I suspect I did. My right eye slowly became blurred and I assumed it was a cataract. I delayed seeing an Opthamologist after my thru as I spent 4 months skiing away from home. I have a rather severe case of toxoplasmosis and am being treated with antibiotics and steroids. Switching to eye injections this week.
My research of the Google variety shows that this is usually contracted from cats and I have never had cats. More recently it is believed that it can be contracted from contaminated water supply. My question to anyone who might know; Is the parasite Toxoplasmosis Gandii (hope I have it spelled correctly) killed or inactivated by Aqua Mira, boiling and steripen.?
My best guess - and its only a guess, is that I contracted it from water on the trail. I used Aqua Mira throughout my hike, occasionally only boiled water when I was making a hot drink and for about a month I shared a friends steripen to make safe. I drank untreated only when the spring flowed strongly straight out of the side of the mountain or through a pipe in the side of the mountain.
Again I dont know that I got this from water on the trail but all of the other ways of getting this seem very unlikely for me.

[One Half]

You may have contracted it from the water I suppose. Here are the list of transmission routes.

Transmission may occur through:


Ingestion of raw or partly cooked meat, especially pork, lamb, or venison containing Toxoplasma cysts. Infection prevalence in countries where undercooked meat is traditionally eaten has been related to this transmission method. Tissue cysts may also be ingested during hand-to-mouth contact after handling undercooked meat, or from using knives, utensils, or cutting boards contaminated by raw meat.[20] (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/#cite_note-CDC-19)
Ingestion of contaminated cat feces (http://www.whiteblaze.net/wiki/Feces). This can occur through hand-to-mouth contact following gardening, cleaning a cat's litter box (http://www.whiteblaze.net/wiki/Litter_box), contact with children's sandpits, or touching a leech. The cysts can survive in the environment for over a year.[21] (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/#cite_note-20)

Cats excrete the pathogen in their feces for a number of weeks after contracting the disease, generally by eating an infected rodent. Even then, cat faeces are not generally contagious for the first day or two after excretion, after which the cyst 'ripens' and becomes potentially pathogenic.[22] (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/#cite_note-CDC2-21)

It seems that you may be able to contract by touching something you didnt realize had been infected by a cat.

I contracted this when I was 13 by petting my neighbors cat one afternoon. The best the doctors could figure is that I had a small scratch on my hand and the bacteria entered through there. It's just as likely that after I pet the cat I touched my face too.

Don't know if Aqua Mira will kill the bacteria if it's in water.

[MachoPanchoMan]

Hi RichardD,
I work in a malaria biochemistry lab, so I was curious to dig into your question a bit (malaria is similar to toxoplasma). The short answer is that AquaMira almost certainly does not work against toxo.

The tricky thing with toxoplasma gondii (the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis) is that, like giardia and cryptosporidium, it is not bacteria. Like humans, it must undergo sexual reproduction and also like humans, it produces single-cell eggs. These eggs can infect mammals and are much harder to kill than the hatched adults. In water, the adults are probably killed by most purification techniques, but the eggs are much more resilient. This site http://www.waterbornepathogens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=73 suggests that chemicals are not effective at killing toxoplasma eggs. It doesn't specifically address AquaMira, which is chlorine dioxide, but I am fairly certain that it would not work if bleach doesn't work. Bleach is sodium hypochlorite and like chlorine dioxide, it works by releasing chlorite ions into water solutions, which is what kills stuff. The site suggests that UV irradiation might be somewhat effective, so a SteriPen might work. If the SteriPen is strong enough to kill cryptosporidium, it should also kill toxo eggs, but the problem is that the dose needed to become infected is very low (one egg can be enough), so even if you kill most of them, it might not matter. Filters with very small pores might be the best. Boiling kills everything if you do it for long enough (5+ minutes, protazoan eggs are tougher than bacteria).

I guess you have to decide whether you should bother with the filter. Sounds like the stream you drank from wasn't downstream of a farm. Could it have been a burger or steak that was less than very well done?

[WIAPilot]

:eek: Wait. Let me get my list out. I'm beginning to feel that everyone who survives a thru deserves a medal...

[Don H]

RichardD,
What's the treatment and how effective is it?

[Winds]

Regarding the Steripen: It doesn't KILL.

Ultraviolet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet) (UV) light induces the formation of covalent linkages on DNA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA) and thereby prevents microbes from reproducing. Without reproduction, the microbes become far less dangerous.

[rocketsocks]

Hi RichardD,
I work in a malaria biochemistry lab, so I was curious to dig into your question a bit (malaria is similar to toxoplasma). The short answer is that AquaMira almost certainly does not work against toxo.

The tricky thing with toxoplasma gondii (the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis) is that, like giardia and cryptosporidium, it is not bacteria. Like humans, it must undergo sexual reproduction and also like humans, it produces single-cell eggs. These eggs can infect mammals and are much harder to kill than the hatched adults. In water, the adults are probably killed by most purification techniques, but the eggs are much more resilient. This site http://www.waterbornepathogens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=73 suggests that chemicals are not effective at killing toxoplasma eggs. It doesn't specifically address AquaMira, which is chlorine dioxide, but I am fairly certain that it would not work if bleach doesn't work. Bleach is sodium hypochlorite and like chlorine dioxide, it works by releasing chlorite ions into water solutions, which is what kills stuff. The site suggests that UV irradiation might be somewhat effective, so a SteriPen might work. If the SteriPen is strong enough to kill cryptosporidium, it should also kill toxo eggs, but the problem is that the dose needed to become infected is very low (one egg can be enough), so even if you kill most of them, it might not matter. Filters with very small pores might be the best. Boiling kills everything if you do it for long enough (5+ minutes, protazoan eggs are tougher than bacteria).

I guess you have to decide whether you should bother with the filter. Sounds like the stream you drank from wasn't downstream of a farm. Could it have been a burger or steak that was less than very well done?I would just like to acknowledge the fact that many people have signed in and registered just to answer a question and a member has posed,and never having the intention to join.That is a huge act in my book,that someone would take the time to help another human being.Not knowing if your interested in hiking or this site,But a big Thank You for being a decent person Mr. Macho Pancho Man.......and then some.Very cool indeed.John/RS

[Meagan91]

I also think it could be water. I once had a small infection got from the water exactly. So be careful with it;) And I of course hope you're OK now!

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