Infections caused by TORCH complex - Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV) - are causes of bad obstetric history (BOH). TORCH infections are generally mild in the mother but can prove disastrous to the fetus. The degree of severity depends on the gestational age of the fetus; when infected, the virulence can damage the fetus in the developmental stages and also increase the severity of maternal disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of TORCH infections in pregnancy wastage in women with BOH in south Indian population. This study reports the prevalence of Toxoplasma, Rubella, CMV, and HSV-II infections in randomly selected 86 pregnant women by demonstrating the presence of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using ELISA kits. Immunoglobulin M antibodies were positive in six patients (6.97%) for Toxoplasma, four (4.65%) for Rubella, Nil for CMV, and one (1.69%) for HSV-II. Immunoglobulin G antibodies were positive in 18 patients (20.93%) for Toxoplasma, 25 (29.06%) for Rubella, 20 (23.25%) for CMV, and 16 (18.60%) for HSV-II. It was evident that among the TORCH pathogens, our study group did suffer from Toxoplasma and Rubella to a larger extent compared with CMV and HSV-II viruses. Hence, from this study, we conclude that all antenatal cases with BOH should be routinely screened for TORCH for early diagnosis so that appropriate intervention at early stages can help in proper management of these cases.
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