TORCH complex (also known as STORCH, TORCHES or the TORCH infections) is a medical acronym for a set of perinatal infections (i.e. infections that are passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus). The TORCH infections can lead to severe fetal anomalies or even fetal loss. They are a group of viral, bacterial, and protozoan infections that gain access to the fetal bloodstream transplacentally via the chorionic villi. Hematogenous transmission may occur at any time during gestation or occasionally at the time of delivery via maternal-to-fetal transfusion.
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