PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Al-Hakami, Ahmed M.
AU  - Paul, Esther
AU  - Al-Abed, Faten
AU  - Alzoani, Ahmad A.
AU  - Shati, Ayed A.
AU  - Assiri, Mohammad I.
AU  - Qasim, Asim A.
AU  - Riaz, Fatima
AU  - Moosa, Riyad A.
AU  - Chandramoorthy, Harish C.
TI  - Prevalence of toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes (TORCH) infections among women attending the antenatal care clinic, maternity hospital in Abha, Southwestern Saudi Arabia
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2020.7.25121
DP  - 2020 Jul 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 757--762
VI  - 41
IP  - 7
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/41/7/757.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/41/7/757.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2020 Jul 01; 41
AB  - Objectives: To investigate the presence of toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes (TORCH) infections in women attending at the antenatal care clinic in Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).Methods: A total of 190 blood samples were collected from Abha maternity hospital in Aseer region, KSA, from February 2018 to May 2019 and screened with the TORCH panel (toxoplasmagondii [IgG/IgM], cytomegalovirus [CMV] [IgG/IgM], rubella [IgG/IgM], and herpes simplex type 1 and 2 [IgG/IgM]).Results: The mean age was 31.42±6.514 years and gestational age was 32.48±6.168 weeks. Serum IgG was positive for Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) (27.4%), herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) (94.7%), herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) (0.5%), CMV (100%), and rubella (88.9%). Serum IgM was positive only for CMV (9.5%). Though, there was an association between abortions from previous pregnancies (26.5%), intrauterine death (5.8%), premature labor (3.2%), microcephaly (1.6%), other congenital diseases (1.6%) and low birth weight (0.5%) with current IgG positivity for TORCH infections, the results were not statistically significant.Conclusion: Seropositivity for IgG antibodies correlate with TORCH-associated pregnancy complications in Abha, KSA; however, IgM positive CMV pregnant cases warrant further systematic investigation to understand the implications of CMV on outcomes during pregnancy.