Diseases that are included in the group of TORCH infections are encoded in its name in Latin: TORCH, where T is toxoplasmosis, R is rubella, C is cytomegalovirus infection, H is herpes simplex virus, O is other infections. But in practice, only these four diseases are included in the TORCH infection group.
The question of the presence of these diseases in a woman becomes relevant when the couple is marked by long infertility, frequent miscarriages, fetal death , congenital malformations of the fetus, which are provoked by TORCH infections. However, other symptoms of the disease may be absent, and the mother - the carrier of the torch-infection.
In such cases, the doctor can prescribe a blood test for torch infection for their diagnosis and treatment. Less often, infection occurs during pregnancy, especially fetal infection in the first 12 weeks is particularly dangerous, as it causes severe developmental defects or intrauterine fetal death.
What is included in the TORCH infection?
One of the most common TORCH infections is toxoplasmosis - a bacterial infection that a person becomes infected from domestic animals. The disease proceeds asymptomatically, leaving a permanent immunity, but with infection during pregnancy, severe developmental malformations of the central nervous system and intrauterine fetal death are possible.
Rubella usually get sick in childhood. It is transmitted by airborne droplets, manifested by fever, skin rashes pink throughout the body, rarely causes complications. But infection during pregnancy in the first trimester is an indication for its interruption due to severe malformations that cause the virus, in the second and third trimester severe consequences for the fetus are less common.
Cytomegalovirus can be transmitted both sexually and by breast-feeding from mother to child. The most common disease is asymptomatic. But if infection occurs during pregnancy, it leads to intrauterine infection of the fetus, brain damage with the development of hydrocephalus, damage to the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs, and even to the death of the fetus.
Herpes simplex virus, a person becomes infected as a child, genital herpes can be transmitted sexually and stay in the cells of a person all life, activating with a decrease in immunity. When pregnancy is rare, the appearance of malformations of the fetus is possible. Most often, a child becomes infected with a virus during childbirth.
How to take the test for TORCH infection?
If the doctor prescribes screening for torch infections, the woman needs to understand what it is. For diagnosis on TORCH infection, a blood test is performed. The analysis itself is based on determining the level of antibody titers of immunoglobulin M, which appears in the acute period of the disease.
Less commonly, a blood test for TORG infection is used to determine the immunoglobulin G titer, which indicates a previous illness.
- In the absence of M and G immunoglobulin in the blood, there is no infection with infections.
- In the presence of only immunoglobulin G, there is a remission after the transferred disease.
- If the blood titer of high immunoglobulin M and low G is the primary infection with the infection.
- If on the contrary a high titer G and a low M is a persistent infection.
And only after diagnosis of the titer determine the algorithms for the treatment of torch-infections.
Treatment of HIV infection
Treatment depends on what type of infection is found in a woman. For the treatment of toxoplasmosis, antibiotic derivatives of spiramycin or macrolides are used. To suppress viruses, antiviral drugs that reduce their activity may be prescribed. In addition to specific therapy for treatment use drugs that increase the protection of the immune system.