Management of viral disease during pregnancy

Park, In Yang; Shin, Jong Chul

Abstract

With the development of maternal-fetal medicine, the management of high-risk pregnancy is becoming increasingly important but there are still many controversies over the diagnosis and treatment of intrauterine infection occurring during pregnancy. Intrauterine infection during pregnancy is an important cause of the morbidity and mortality of neonates in the perinatal period and it may also affect development after birth. Thus, it is essential to identify high-risk pregnant women and fetuses and to take preventive actions and apply appropriate treatments. In this study, the present authors purposed to analyze the recent tendencies of various types of virus infection that may affect fetuses and to provide specific information on congenital rubella infection, which still has large room for discussion. If diagnosis, treatment and counseling have not been given properly for congenital viral infection, the pregnant woman and her family suffer from excessive anxiety and worry about the abnormality or loss of the fetus and this may lead to voluntary abortion. In order to prevent such cases, it is considered desirable to make accurate diagnosis for pregnant women and their fetuses through selecting appropriate test indications, time of examination and test methods and analyzing test results properly.