ABSTRACT
Cytomegalovirus(CMV) infection may be acquired congenitally, perinatally or postnatally in babies. Congenital and perinatal CMV infection can be diagnosed by viral culture or detection and quantitation of CMV DNAby Real Time Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) in blood ,urine and body fluids. The objective of this study was to diagnose and determine CMV load in infants presenting with clinical features suggestive of cytomegalovirus infection by RT-qPCR of urine. This descriptive study was done on babies admitted to the Departments of Neonatology and Paediatrics Govt Medical College, Kozhikode from January 2015 to December 2017. Urine samples from 142 babies were received and processed in the Microbiology Department. DNA isolation and amplification was performed using commercial DNA extraction kit and PCR kit for detection and quantification of CMV. Serum samples of the babies with CMV viruria were tested for CMV IgM antibodies. Of 142 babies suggestive of CMVinfection CMV-DNAwas detected and quantitated in urine of 25 (17.60%) (mean age 3.36 months). . CMVIgM was positive in 15/25(60%) babies with viruria .Twenty two had congenital CMV infection (cCMV) and 3 had perinatal infection.The most common clinical presentation was jaundice 13( 52%). Of 8 babies started on Ganciclovir 7 responded to treatment. RT-qPCR helps in diagnosing and quantitating CMVload which helps in deciding on therapy and assessing response to treatment,and can predict risk for long term sequelae.