SYMPTOMES

Most people with toxoplasmosis, including pregnant women, have no
symptoms. When symptoms do appear, they usually appear within
10 days of exposure, and they vary with the person’s age and the response
of his or her immune system. Children with toxoplasmosis fall into three
groups:

• Babies born with toxoplasmosis: Congenital infection occurs when
  babies get toxoplasmosis before birth from their mothers. Most
  of these babies (85 percent) appear normal at birth but later have
  learning disabilities, movement disorders, mental retardation, and
  loss of vision.
• Healthy children who become infected: These children may have
  no symptoms, or they may have swollen glands, fever, general tiredness,
  and weakness.
• Children with immune disorders such as AIDS* or cancer: These
  children may have severe infections, which attack the central nervous
  system, brain, lungs, and heart. Symptoms may include fever,
  seizures, headache, psychosis (severe mental disturbance), and
  problems in vision, speech, movement, or thinking.

For most people who get toxoplasmosis after birth, symptoms may
include:

• fever
• night sweats
• weight loss
• general tiredness
• sore throat
• muscle pain
• swollen lymph nodes*
• calcium deposits in the brain

For people with weakened immune systems (especially those with
AIDS), toxoplasmosis can cause major infections of the brain or, less
commonly, the lungs or heart. Severe disease can be fatal.