Treatment

Healthy people (nonpregnant)

Most healthy people recover from toxoplasmosis without treatment. Persons who are ill can be treated with a combination of drugs such as pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, plus folinic acid.

Pregnant women, newborns, and infants

Pregnant women, newborns, and infants can be treated, although the parasite is not eliminated completely. The parasites can remain within tissue cells in a less active phase; their location makes it difficult for the medication to completely eliminate them.

Persons with ocular disease

Persons with ocular toxoplasmosis are sometimes prescribed medicine to treat active disease by their ophthalmologist. Whether or not medication is recommended depends on the size of the eye lesion, the location, and the characteristics of the lesion (acute active, versus chronic not progressing).

Persons with compromised immune systems

Persons with compromised immune systems need to be treated until they have improvement in their condition. For AIDS patients, continuation of medication for the rest of their lives may be necessary, or for as long as they are immunosuppressed.

More on: Resources for Health Professionals: Treatment