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Prof Niranjan Bhattacharya, Dr Subhas Mukherjee, Dr BC Roy
Department:Millions of women die
due to unsafe abortion conducted unethically. WHO estimates close to 13% of
unsafe abortion is the main cause of all maternal deaths. The methods of
abortion are dilatation and curettage, dilatation and evacuation, manual vacuum
aspiration and electrical vacuum aspiration. Other surgeries include
hysterotomy ligation or even hysterotomy. Medical induction of abortion is
another option for abortion. A group of medical researchers searched for a
safe, cheap, effective, mid-trimester abortifacient like tetanus toxoid and
BCG. Intraamniotic tetanus toxoid antigen challenge in up to 9 weeks of
gestation to 10-16 weeks leads to massive haemorrahage and also there are
congestion of viscera and changes in the growing architecture of foetal organs
lead to death and abortion. A single 2 ml intra-amniotic injection of tetanus
toxoid was mediated by a group of researchers which resulted in 92.80% of
abortion of foetuses. The Ethical Committee restricted the use of BCG
experimentation on the plea that persistence of placenta or any other foetal
tissue in the maternal system that may have the possibility of inducing
hydatiform mole or choriocarcinomatous changes in the mothers in the long run.
It is worth mentioning that in the case of multiple injections of tetanus
toxoid through the intra-amniotic route, there is marginal improvement in the
cumulative abortion rate. There are many changes in the foetal organ
architecture postfoetal challenge with antigen. A comparison of the aborted
placentas of 18 weeks and non-aborted placentas after antigen challenge and
blank antigen (normal saline + preservative) challenge showed certain definite
challenges. A new concept in vaccination of the unborn had been started by the
same researches. The group has suggested that vaccination of the unborn via the
intra-amniotic or intrafoetal route is not feasible as it has serious
side-effects. The researchers further believe that this abortion pattern can be
due to the auto-immune reaction or even unnamed inflammations of the basics
which are still to be elucidated.
, , manual vacuum aspiration, electrical vacuum aspiration, tetanus toxoid, BCG, abortifacient, antigenic challenge, foetal immune system, intra-amniotic injection, amniotic cavity, target cells, vaccination of the unborn
Journal: Medical Glory Vol 4, Issue No 3, July-September, 2020