Seroprevalance of toxoplasma, rubella, CMV and HSV infection in pregnant women in central India

Abstract

Context: Prenatal screening for antibodies to TORCH infectious agents is an important tool for diagnosis. Primary infections with TORCH in pregnant women can lead to serious complications that are initially unapparent or asymptomatic or mild infection in the mother but can cause much more serious consequences in the fetus. Aims: The aim of the study was to determine the seroprevalance of TORCH. Settings and Design: This is the 6-month prospective study conducted in central lab of Microbiology department at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Science (SAIMS), Medical college and PG Institute, Indore. Subjects and Methods: Present study was carried out in the serology lab of Microbiology department in a tertiary care hospital and teaching institute; during the study period (July-Dec 2013), total 64 sample were collected for detection of TORCH seroprevalance (Toxoplasma, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, CMV, Herpes simplex virus, HSV) by the commercially available TORCH ELISA kit following the manufactures instruction. Statistical analysis used: No. Results: Out of 64, tested by TORCH ELISA, 35 (54.68%) were positive for IgG in single infection [Rubella-15, toxoplasma-6, CMV-10, HSV-4] and 28 (43.75%) were positive for IgM [Rubella-4, toxoplasma-19, CMV-5]. In majority of the cases, 82.8% co-infection by TORCH agents were observed in our set-up. Conclusions: Serological screening is contributed to the prevention of congenital infections due to TORCH agent. Therefore, all the antenatal cases should be routinely screened for the TORCH infections, for carrying out early interventions to prevent fetal loss.