Test Details: Toxoplasma gondii is problematic when primary infection occurs during the first trimester of pregnancy, leading to fetal death or when reactivation occurs in immunocompromised patients, leading to life-threatening disease including encephalitis and extracerebral toxoplasmosis. Monitoring blood levels of Toxoplasma gondii DNA correlates well with treatment. Detection of T. gondii DNA by PCR has proven to be a rapid and reliable alternative or supportive method for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Rubella is a very infectious viral illness mainly causing fever (raised temperature) and a distinctive red-brown coloured rash. The virus is passed on through aerosols in the air from the coughs and sneezes of infected people. Usually mild illness but, if rubella occurs during the first trimester of pregnancy, there is a 90% risk of congenital malformations in the fetus. Persistent fetal infection may result in a series of birth defects known as the congenital rubella syndrome (CRS).