Genetic Study of TORCH Infections in Women with Bad Obstetric History: Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction for Detection of Common Pathogens and Agents of Congenital Infections

Abstract

To revealed the incidence of TORCH infections among pregnancy wastage in women which had bad obstetric history (BOH).

METHODS:

The study included 132 women with bad obstetric history. Genetic evaluation for TORCH infections was carried out by specific primers designed for that purpose using PCR method.

RESULT:

Toxoplasma was 36.36%, rubella 20.45%, cytomegalovirus 29.55% and herpes simplex virus 13.64%. Maximum number of cases of abortion 52 (39.39%), preterm labor 29 (21.96%) was associated with toxoplasma infection, early neonatal deaths 19 (14.39%) were maximally associated with toxoplasma and CMV infections. while congenital malformations 14 (10.6%) were evident maximally with toxoplasma infection and intrauterine death 8 (6.06%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Women with BOH are significantly higher in infection compared with that in control. A previous history of pregnancy wastage, genetic infestation using specific primers for TORCH agent’s detection and the serological reaction for TORCH infections during current pregnancy must be considered while managing BOH cases so as to reduce the adverse fetal outcome.