title: TORCH seroprevalence among patients attending Obstetric Care Clinic of Haydarpasa Training and Research Hospital affiliated to Association of Istanbul Northern Anatolia Public Hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus and Herpes simplex viruses are microorganisms that cause congenital infections and they are called briefly as TORCH. There is an ongoing argument for the screening of reproductive age women due to the high cost of tests. For a test to be used in screening, prevalence of disease in this population should be known. The aim of this study was to investigate TORCH seroprevalence among women attending a teaching hospital in Istanbul.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1101 patients attending outpatient clinic of Obstetric Care Clinic of Haydarpasa Training and Research Hospital affiliated to Association of Istanbul Northern Anatolia Public Hospitals between September 2013 to January 2015 and their laboratory data were evaluated retrospectively. We investigated Ig G and M seropositivity rates against TORCH.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age of the patients ranged between 17-47 years with a mean age of 30.3±5.8 years. Pregnant population had 99.5% anti-CMV Ig G (+), 94.2% anti-Rubella Ig G (+), 31% anti-Toxoplasma Ig G (+). Seroprevalence for Anti IgM was 0.5% for CMV, 0.2% for rubella.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The screening for Toxoplasma gondii may be suggested since the prevalence is not high in our population. The screening of CMV is not meaningful, due to high seroprevalence. Although seroprevalence of rubella is also high, it may be suggested for preconception vaccination especially in women above 20 years of age born prior to National Vaccination Programme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Numan
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fisun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vural
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nurettin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aka
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alpay
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse Deniz Erturk
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Coskun
keywords: CMV; TORCH; pregnancy; rubella; screening tests; toxoplasma