TORCH syndrome can be prevented by treating an infected pregnant person, thereby preventing the infection from affecting the fetus.

The treatment of TORCH syndrome is mainly supportive and depends on the symptoms present; medication is an option for herpes and cytomegalovirus infections.

Recommendations for pregnant women with regard to CMV infection:

- Throughout the pregnancy, practice good personal hygiene, especially handwashing with soap and water, after contact with diapers or oral secretions (particularly with a child who is in day care). Sharing of food, eating and drinking utensils, and contact with toddlers' saliva should be avoided.

- Women who develop a mononucleosis-like illness during pregnancy should be evaluated for CMV infection and counseled about the possible risks to the unborn child.

- Laboratory testing for antibody to CMV can be performed to determine if a woman has already had CMV infection.

- Recovery of CMV from the cervix or urine of women at or before the time of delivery does not warrant a cesarean section.

- The demonstrated benefits of breast-feeding outweigh the minimal risk of acquiring CMV from the breast-feeding mother.

- There is no need to either screen for CMV or exclude CMV-excreting children from schools or institutions because the virus is frequently found in many healthy children and adults.

Treatment with hyperimmune globulin in mothers with primary CMV infection has been shown to be effective in preventing congenital disease in several studies. One study did not show significant decrease in the risk of congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Most healthy people working with infants and children face no special risk from CMV infection. However, for women of child-bearing age who previously have not been infected with CMV, there is a potential risk to the developing unborn child (the risk is described above in the Pregnancy section). Contact with children who are in day care, where CMV infection is commonly transmitted among young children (particularly toddlers), may be a source of exposure to CMV. Since CMV is transmitted through contact with infected body fluids, including urine and saliva, child care providers (meaning day care workers, special education teachers, as well as mothers) should be educated about the risks of CMV infection and the precautions they can take. Day care workers appear to be at a greater risk than hospital and other health care providers, and this may be due in part to the increased emphasis on personal hygiene in the health care setting.

Recommendations for individuals providing care for infants and children:

- Employees should be educated concerning CMV, its transmission, and hygienic practices, such as handwashing, which minimize the risk of infection.

- Susceptible nonpregnant women working with infants and children should not routinely be transferred to other work situations.

- Pregnant women working with infants and children should be informed of the risk of acquiring CMV infection and the possible effects on the unborn child.

- Routine laboratory testing for CMV antibody in female workers is not specifically recommended due to its high occurrence, but can be performed to determine their immune status.

Some vertically transmitted infections, such as toxoplasmosis and syphilis, can be effectively treated with antibiotics if the mother is diagnosed early in her pregnancy. Many viral vertically transmitted infections have no effective treatment, but some, notably rubella and varicella-zoster, can be prevented by vaccinating the mother prior to pregnancy.

If the mother has active herpes simplex (as may be suggested by a pap test), delivery by Caesarean section can prevent the newborn from contact, and consequent infection, with this virus.

IgG antibody may play crucial role in prevention of intrauterine infections and extensive research is going on for developing IgG-based therapies for treatment and vaccination.

Most of the time, Zika fever resolves on its own in 2 to 7 days, but rarely, some people develop Guillain–Barré syndrome. The fetus of a pregnant woman who has Zika fever may die or be born with congenital central nervous system malformations, like microcephaly.

Each type of vertically transmitted infection has a different prognosis. The stage of the pregnancy at the time of infection also can change the effect on the newborn.

To reduce neonatal infection, routine screening of pregnant women for HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis, and rubella susceptibility is required in the UK.

Treatment with an vaginal antibiotic wash prior to birth does not prevent infection with group B streptococcus bacteria. Breast milk protects against necrotizing enterocolitis.

Because GBS bacteria can colonize the lower reproductive tract of 30% of women, typically pregnant women are tested for this pathogen from 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy. Before delivery treatment of the mother with antibiotics reduces the rate of neonatal infection. Prevention of the infection of the baby is done by treating the mother with penicillin. Since the adoption of this prophylatic treatment, infant mortality from GBS infection has decreased by 80%.

Mothers with symptomatic HSV and who are treated with antiviral prophylaxis are less prone to have an active, symptomatic case at the time of birth and it may be able to reduce the risk of passing on HSV during birth. Cesarean delivery reduces the risk of infection of the infant.

There is currently no specific treatment for Zika virus infection. Care is supportive with treatment of pain, fever, and itching. Some authorities have recommended against using aspirin and other NSAIDs as these have been associated with hemorrhagic syndrome when used for other flaviviruses. Additionally, aspirin use is generally avoided in children when possible due to the risk of Reye syndrome.

Zika virus had been relatively little studied until the major outbreak in 2015, and no specific antiviral treatments are available as yet. Advice to pregnant women is to avoid any risk of infection so far as possible, as once infected there is little that can be done beyond supportive treatment.

Neonatal infection treatment is typically started before the diagnosis of the cause can be confirmed.

Neonatal infection can be prophylactically treated with antibiotics. Maternal treatment with antibiotics is primarily used to protect against group B streptococcus.

Women with a history of HSV, can be treated with antiviral drugs to prevent symptomatic lesions and viral shedding that could infect the infant at birth. The antiviral medications used include acyclovir, penciclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir. Only very small amounts of the drug can be detected in the fetus. There are no increases in drug-related abnormalities in the infant that could be attributed to acyclovir. Long-term effects of antiviral medications have not been evaluated for their effects after growth and development of the child occurs. Neutropenia can be a complication of acyclovir treatment of neonatal HSV infection, but is usually transient. Treatment with immunoglobulin therapy has not been proven to be effective.

If a pregnant mother is identified as being infected with syphilis, treatment can effectively prevent congenital syphilis from developing in the fetus, especially if he or she is treated before the sixteenth week of pregnancy. The fetus is at greatest risk of contracting syphilis when the mother is in the early stages of infection, but the disease can be passed at any point during pregnancy, even during delivery (if the child had not already contracted it). A woman in the secondary stage of syphilis decreases her fetus's risk of developing congenital syphilis by 98% if she receives treatment before the last month of pregnancy. An afflicted child can be treated using antibiotics much like an adult; however, any developmental symptoms are likely to be permanent.

Kassowitz’s law is an empirical observation used in context of congenital syphilis stating that the greater the duration between the infection of the mother and conception, the better is the outcome for the infant. Features of a better outcome include less chance of stillbirth and of developing congenital syphilis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends treating symptomatic or babies born to infected mother with unknown treatment status with procaine penicillin G, 50,000 U/kg dose IM a day in a single dose for 10 days. Treatment for these babies can vary on a case by case basis. Treatment cannot reverse any deformities, brain, or permanent tissue damage that has already occurred.

The medications prescribed for acute toxoplasmosis are the following:

- Pyrimethamine — an antimalarial medication

- Sulfadiazine — an antibiotic used in combination with pyrimethamine to treat toxoplasmosis

- Combination therapy is usually given with folic acid supplements to reduce incidence of thrombocytopaenia.

- Combination therapy is most useful in the setting of HIV.

- Clindamycin

- Spiramycin — an antibiotic used most often for pregnant women to prevent the infection of their children.

(other antibiotics, such as minocycline, have seen some use as a salvage therapy).

If infected during pregnancy, spiramycin is recommended in the first and early second trimesters while pyrimethamine/sulfadiazine and leucovorin is recommended in the late second and third trimesters.

In people with latent toxoplasmosis, the cysts are immune to these treatments, as the antibiotics do not reach the bradyzoites in sufficient concentration.

The medications prescribed for latent toxoplasmosis are:

- Atovaquone — an antibiotic that has been used to kill "Toxoplasma" cysts inside AIDS patients

- Clindamycin — an antibiotic that, in combination with atovaquone, seemed to optimally kill cysts in mice

Rubella infection of children and adults is usually mild, self-limiting and often asymptomatic. The prognosis in children born with CRS is poor.

There is no specific treatment for rubella; however, management is a matter of responding to symptoms to diminish discomfort. Treatment of newborn babies is focused on management of the complications. Congenital heart defects and cataracts can be corrected by direct surgery.

Management for ocular congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is similar to that for age-related macular degeneration, including counseling, regular monitoring, and the provision of low vision devices, if required.

Vaccinating the majority of the population is effective at preventing congenital rubella syndrome.

, no approved vaccines are available. A phase-II vaccine trial used a live, attenuated virus, to develop viral resistance in 98% of those tested after 28 days and 85% still showed resistance after one year. However, 8% of people reported transient joint pain, and attenuation was found to be due to only two mutations in the E2 glycoprotein. Alternative vaccine strategies have been developed, and show efficacy in mouse models. In August 2014 researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the USA were testing an experimental vaccine which uses virus-like particles (VLPs) instead of attenuated virus. All the 25 people participated in this phase 1 trial developed strong immune responses. As of 2015, a phase 2 trial was planned, using 400 adults aged 18 to 60 and to take place at 6 locations in the Caribbean. Even with a vaccine, mosquito population control and bite prevention will be necessary to control chikungunya disease.

Doxycycline is the drug of choice, but azithromycin is also used as a five-day course rather than a single dose that would be used to treat "Chlamydia" infection; streptomycin is an alternative, but is less popular because it must be injected. Penicillins are ineffective — "U. urealyticum" does not have a cell wall, which is the drug's main target.

Currently, no specific treatment for chikungunya is available. Supportive care is recommended, and symptomatic treatment of fever and joint swelling includes the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as naproxen, non-aspirin analgesics such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) and fluids. Aspirin is not recommended due to the increased risk of bleeding. Despite anti-inflammatory effects, corticosteroids are not recommended during the acute phase of disease, as they may cause immunosuppression and worsen infection.

Passive immunotherapy has potential benefit in treatment of chikungunya. Studies in animals using passive immunotherapy have been effective, and clinical studies using passive immunotherapy in those particularly vulnerable to severe infection are currently in progress. Passive immunotherapy involves administration of anti-CHIKV hyperimmune human intravenous antibodies (immunoglobulins) to those exposed to a high risk of chikungunya infection. No antiviral treatment for chikungunya virus is currently available, though testing has shown several medications to be effective "in vitro".

Zika virus vaccine clinical trials are to be conducted and established. There are efforts being put toward advancing antiviral therapeutics against zika virus for swift control. Present day Zika virus treatment is symptomatic through antipyretics and analgesics. Currently there are no publications regarding viral drug screening. Nevertheless, therapeutics for this infection have been used.

Dengue infection's therapeutic management is simple, cost effective and successful in saving lives by adequately performing timely institutionalized interventions. Treatment options are restricted, while no effective antiviral drugs for this infection have been accessible to date. Patients in the early phase of the dengue virus may recover without hospitalization. However, ongoing clinical research is in the works to find specific anti-dengue drugs.

Death from congenital syphilis is usually due to bleeding into the lungs.

An emerging infectious disease (EID) is an infectious disease whose incidence has increased in the past 20 years and could increase in the near future. Emerging infections account for at least 12% of all human pathogens. EIDs are caused by newly identified species or strains (e.g. Severe acute respiratory syndrome, HIV/AIDS) that may have evolved from a known infection (e.g. influenza) or spread to a new population (e.g. West Nile fever) or to an area undergoing ecologic transformation (e.g. Lyme disease), or be "reemerging" infections, like drug resistant tuberculosis. Nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are emerging in hospitals, and extremely problematic in that they are resistant to many antibiotics. Of growing concern are adverse synergistic interactions between emerging diseases and other infectious and non-infectious conditions leading to the development of novel syndemics. Many emerging diseases are zoonotic - an animal reservoir incubates the organism, with only occasional transmission into human populations.

Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) can occur in a developing fetus of a pregnant woman who has contracted rubella, usually in the first trimester. If infection occurs 0–28 days before conception, the infant has a 43% risk of being affected. If the infection occurs 0–12 weeks after conception, the risk increases to 51%. If the infection occurs 13–26 weeks after conception, the risk is 23% of the infant being affected by the disease. Infants are not generally affected if rubella is contracted during the third trimester, or 26–40 weeks after conception. Problems rarely occur when rubella is contracted by the mother after 20 weeks of gestation and continues to disseminate the virus after birth.

It was discovered in 1941 by Australian Norman McAlister Gregg.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a journal "Emerging Infectious Diseases" that identifies the following factors contributing to disease emergence:

- Microbial adaption; e.g. genetic drift and genetic shift in Influenza A

- Changing human susceptibility; e.g. mass immunocompromisation with HIV/AIDS

- Climate and weather; e.g. diseases with zoonotic vectors such as West Nile Disease (transmitted by mosquitoes) are moving further from the tropics as the climate warms

- Change in human demographics and trade; e.g. rapid travel enabled SARS to rapidly propagate around the globe

- Economic development; e.g. use of antibiotics to increase meat yield of farmed cows leads to antibiotic resistance

- Breakdown of public health; e.g. the current situation in Zimbabwe

- Poverty and social inequality; e.g. tuberculosis is primarily a problem in low-income areas

- War and famine

- Bioterrorism; e.g. 2001 Anthrax attacks

- Dam and irrigation system construction; e.g. malaria and other mosquito borne diseases