RT Book, Section A1 McLeod, Rima A1 Lee, Daniel A1 Clouser, Fatima A1 Boyer, Kenneth A2 Stevenson, David K. A2 Cohen, Ronald S. A2 Sunshine, Philip SR Print(0) ID 1109799759 T1 Diagnosis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis T2 Neonatology: Clinical Practice and Procedures YR 2015 FD 2015 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071763769 LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1109799759 RD 2024/03/29 AB Abundant and convincing evidence demonstrates that medicines block transmission of Toxoplasma gondii from the pregnant woman to her fetus, kill tachyzoites, reduce or eliminate parasite burden, reduce or eliminate eye disease, reduce or eliminate brain disease, reduce severity of disease, eliminate meningitis, treat meningoencephalitis, and lower immune markers of infection.1, 2, 3, and 4 Earlier, there was some controversy in the literature (discussed in Reference 4), but currently, review of data from in vitro and experimental animal studies, attention to older publications of studies that were performed meticulously (reviewed in References 1, 2, 3, and 4), and several recent studies have clarified the efficacy and benefits of proper, early, and rapid diagnosis and medical treatment.5,6 The recent data demonstrate how important it is to establish such diagnosis and treatment as the standard for medical care to prevent the loss of productive lives to this disease. The time when the acute infection is diagnosed and treated is critical.1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 The earlier the infection is treated, the better the outcomes will be for fetus, infant, and congenitally infected person.5,6 For this reason, the focus of this chapter is to make clear how diagnosis and treatment of the fetus and infant can be optimized and how this is carried out practically.