GynoFiles

WE have become so worried regarding exotic infections we've not heard of, it's easy to ignore those infections that are quite common. Herpes is one of the most common infections in the adult population, and therefore in pregnancy as well. Common pregnancy infections are classified in the grouping of infections we name the TORCH or STORCH infections, it is named as this is a the mnemonic physicians use to define a set of infections we have seen in in pregnancy: Toxoplasmosis Other (syphilis) Rubella Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Herpes simplex virus (HSV) or we move the S to define syphilis at the front and leave other for "Other" like HIV, Listeria, Haverhill fevers (it's from rats, I confess, I don't think I've ever seen a case, do people really ever get bitten by rats? that's not really possible is it??!), and now Zika Virus Infection would go under this rubric as well. Toxosoplasmosis comes from an outdoor cat, and you can be tested for it. But what we ...

Common questions we get is what foods are not safe in pregnancy. It's always important to make sure fruits and vegetables are well washed and meats are well cooked, but there are some less common conditions women are at risk for to avoid in pregnancy. One of these illness is listeriosis caused by the bacteria listeria monocytogenes (hot dogs, some processed foods such as pate and soft cheeses - feta) - it may produce an illness that is mild, almost flu like, but possibly can progress to a more wide spread infections that can cause pockets of infection through a mother's system and cross over the placenta to infect the baby. There are other foods to avoid in pregnancy. There are many good sources of information. For instance you can see my chapter on Common Pregnancy Complaints and Questions on  eMedicine ;. It's a terrific resource of information. There are over 6500 articles and 10,000 physician contributors with continual updating.