Prevalence of IgM Antibodies to Toxoplasma, Rubella and Cytomegalovirus Infections During Pregnancy

From the Department of Microbiology, Govt. Medical College, Amritsar (Punjab) India Correspondece to: Dr. Usha Arora, 36, Anand Avenue, Amritsar, Punjab. Introduction Maternal infections play a critical role in pregnancy wastage and their occurrence in patients with Bad Obstetric History (BOH) is a significant factor (1). The rate of spontaneous abortion from foetal infection by the infectious agents like TORCH (Toxoplasma, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes Simplex virus) group and others such as Treponemoa pallidum is believed to range from 10-15% (2). The maternal infection which has been considered as a significant factor in the causation of poor pregnancy outcome elsewhere has not assumed much significance in India since their prevalence and effect on pregnancy outcome have not been studied so far (3). Most of the information on Toxoplasmosis in India is on pregnancy wastage (4,5). Rubella and (CMV) Abstract The present study was conducted to find out the prevalence of IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma, Rubella and Cytomegalovirus in women with Bad Obstetric History (BOH) in and around Amritsar. Over a period of one year, 200 serum samples were collected from pregnant women having BOH and 100 serum samples were collected from pregnant women without BOH. Out of 200 sera, from women with BOH 137 (68.5%) were positive for Toxoplasma, Rubella and CMV alone or in combination. IgM seropositivity to Toxoplasma was 42.5%, Rubella was 17.5% and CMV was 29.5%. The highest percentage of these antibodies to Toxoplasma, Rubella and CMV was in cases of abortions i.e. 71.8%, 59.9% and 61% respectively. The study shows that there is a strong association of these agents with BOH. Thus, screening and early diagnosis for these agents in women can help in proper management of these cases.