Pregnant Mine can hold free exam to detect toxoplasmosis

Starting this year, the mom of Minas Gerais will perform free of charge, the panel of tests for the early detection of congenital toxoplasmosis. The Toxoplasmosis Control Program was approved by the State Department of Health of Minas Gerais (MG-SES), with the goal of reducing the prevalence of the disease and the damage it causes to children's health. High prevalence in Brazil, congenital toxoplasmosis can cause severe visual and neurological sequelae.

The procedure is simple and safe: from the first mother to attend a Basic Health Unit (BHU) a capillary blood sample will be collected on filter paper and sent by mail to the analysis at the Center for Research and Action in Support Diagnosis, School of Medicine, UFMG (Nupad), in Belo Horizonte, as already happens with samples of neonatal screening, held in the early days of the baby's life.

At the same time, it establishes a standardized benchmarks, seeking a proper interpretation of the results, which favors the promotion of more effective actions in terms of public health.

According to the director general of Nupad, Nelio Joseph Gennaro, the program aims, in addition to the detection of positive cases during the prenatal period, identify those pregnant women at risk of acquiring the infection during pregnancy. Once identified, they will be targeted by educational measures and guidelines to avoid exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of the disease, he says. Shares of treatment will have oversight of SES-MG, especially in situations of difficulties with local resolution.

Municipalities <b> Master </ b>

For the municipality receives protocols, material and institutional disclosure, as well as the supplies needed for the procedure of collection, as lancets, filter paper and envelope, you must make the register of the Health Units of the municipality. This registration statement and technical references must be made through the site Nupad.

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