TORCH-complex

TORCH-complex is one of the most common types of tests that are offered to pregnant women, as well as to all those who are just planning to replenish the family.

Testing is a confirmation or refutation of the presence in the body of a certain group of pathogens of certain diseases. All of them can be transmitted in utero from mother to baby. In the future, ailments provoke deviations from the normal development of the fetus, as well as congenital diseases and complications during the bearing of the baby.

Why TORCH is so important

The very name of the examination is an abbreviation, which consists of the initial letters of infectious lesions according to medical terminology. We are talking about serious diseases that all women in the position are afraid of: toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegagolovirus, herpesvirus, syphilis, hepatitis, varicella-zoster virus. Additionally, the study allows you to identify some other viral ailments, as well as deviations caused by bacterial interference.

The benefit of such training lies in the ability to recognize the danger in the early stages, when there are still no pronounced external symptoms. Despite the fact that absolutely all people can suffer from all the listed pathologies, regardless of age, gender and nationality, it is pregnant women who endure them the worst.

Expectant mothers fear that the illness will negatively affect the fetus. In some cases, the influence of the infection causes not only birth defects and other irreversible processes, but also provokes the fading of pregnancy, or stillbirth. In order to prevent the most unfortunate scenario, it is better to play it safe in advance, and pass the analysis even at the planning phase of family expansion.

Difficulties are added by the fact that not always women in position are able to recognize the course of these diseases in themselves. In many, they are mild, and against the background of numerous other complaints of patients, they are simply overlooked. But infection of the fetus guarantees severe consequences, especially during the first three months of gestation. The reason for this is the active formation of fetal organs, which are especially sensitive to various pathogenic factors.

The price of the test is fully justified, even if the patient decided to take it in a private clinic, being seen by a gynecologist not in a state antenatal clinic.

Physicians tune in that in order to understand the danger of a possible outcome, one should not just know what kind of analysis it is. It is also necessary to understand the mechanism of penetration of the “invisible enemy” into the body in order to exclude risk factors that depend on themselves.

So, toxoplasmosis can be transmitted in several ways. The first point concerns the eating of meat. But infection will take place only when the piece is not fried enough. Also, cats, which are listed as infectious carriers, sometimes become the primary source of the problem. Cytomegalovirus is a consequence of the transmission of the disease from person to person in three ways:

• through sexual intercourse;
• through the blood;
• airborne droplets.

Rubella is also transmitted in the latter way. Because of this, many women prefer to have it before they become pregnant, because the body has time to develop immunity against re-infection. Syphilis, which doctors call treponema pallidum, is transmitted exclusively through blood or sexual intercourse. The herpes simplex virus can also be transmitted during sex. But this is not the only option for its transmission, as there is a risk of infection through the airborne route.

All of the above, excluding syphilis, will not pose a serious threat if the woman has already had such diseases before. And if you want to protect yourself from herpes, provided that he was not previously diagnosed with her, you can use vaccination.

Anxiety symptoms

In pregnant women, the most important beacon that signals possible pathologies is blood sampling. It is done on a regular basis, so all changes can be easily tracked by comparing with previous results.

Outwardly, a pregnant woman may experience mild signs of abnormality in the form of fever, catarrhal phenomena, or skin rashes.

Often they are confused with the classic clinical picture of SARS, or other relatively simple ailments. In order to prevent serious consequences and the launch of irreversible processes, expectant mothers are obliged to immediately seek help from a doctor when they discover the first alarming signs. If the child was affected by infections from the TORCH list, then immediately after birth, he may show atypical signs that cover:

• lack of normal communication;
• learning problems, up to the inability to perform simple arithmetic calculations at a young age;
• motor deviations;
• blocking the ability to take care of oneself;
• violation of social skills, for example, turning off the skill of self-control;
• mental retardation.

What is included in the list of symptoms in newborns and toddlers in the early years of development often affects the problem with the emotional sphere and behavioral response. Outwardly, the problem can touch on aesthetic difficulties such as microcephaly – a small head. This point also affects the small size of the brain.

No less dangerous is hydrocephalus, which is an expansion of the cerebral ventricles. Threatening signs also turn out to be:

• deafness;
• cataract, inflammation of the retina with the choroid;
• skin lesions;
• musculoskeletal pathologies.

Occasionally, the list may be supplemented by rare manifestations that are not always possible to notice with the naked eye.

Diagnosis of diseases by TORCH

If the pregnancy was not planned and took place without primary preparation at a specialized medical center, then the gynecologist will send the woman to be tested in the early stages of an interesting situation. If during the process it turns out that the viruses have already managed to infect the fetus, then abortion is often offered as a leveling of risks for the mother. This is a medical indication, so women are advised to listen to the appointment of specialists in order to preserve their own health.

Experts also insist that a standard study of only IgG antibody titers is of little use. This is explained by the fact that IgG belongs to the camp of the so-called witness antibodies. They can only tell that the patient has previously suffered from these diseases.

To get detailed information, you will have to look at the IgM column. She will tell about the activity of the process, because it is the IgM titers that indicate the onset of an acute period of the disease.

Physicians call an auxiliary index an increasing number of antibodies within two weeks, which also indicates the active phase of the process. A detailed decoding is completely left to the attending doctor, who will get the results of a laboratory test.

How to protect yourself from TORCH

In addition to the obligation to analyze as soon as possible, there are several other factors that mitigate the possible consequences of infection. Pregnant women should pay special attention to their condition, since it is better to check once again than to let everything go on the brakes.

Those who are faced with the following manifestations of deviations from the standards should be especially careful:

• signs of SARS;
• skin rashes;
• change in the shape, size of the lymph nodes;
• deviations in the general analysis of blood.

All of the above should encourage a woman to retake the IgM test, since the pathogens during the first study may not yet have entered the body.

It is also worth spending time on preventive measures, the most important of which is the rubella vaccination at least three months before the planned pregnancy, if the woman has not had it before.

In order not to become a victim of cytomegalovirus infection, it is important to maintain your own immunity at a sufficient level. Doctors remind that all those who have immunosuppression are the first in line for infection with viruses. It would be useful to avoid any contact with a person who has already been confirmed to have this disease.

The most effective method of preventing genital herpes is only protection during intimacy with an infected sexual partner.

And the preventive approach against possible toxoplasmosis provides for the standard rules of ordinary life. This includes washing food before direct consumption, as well as washing hands with soap after contact with dirty surfaces until coming home after the street.

It is also important to work in the garden or in the garden only with rubber gloves. It will be effective to refuse contact with any animals and their waste products for the period of bearing a baby.