Résumé
This study evaluates the transmission of CMV infection in 120 children aged 1 to 15 years with Down syndrome who attended a day-care center for handicapped children in São Paulo, Brazil. A blood sample was obtained from each children at the beginning of the study for detection of IgG and IgM cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies by an immunofluorescence assay. Samples of saliva and urine were obtained every 3 months from the children with CMV antibodies to detect shedding of the virus by culture in human foreskin fibroblasts, by detection of pp65 CMV-antigen and by a nested PCR assay. The prevalence of anti CMV-IgG antibodies was 76.6 per cent (92/120), and IgM anti-CMV antibodies were detected in 13 per cent (12/92) of the seropositive children. During the first viral evaluation, CMV was detected in the urine and/or saliva in 39/90 (43.3 per cent) of the seropositive children. In the second and third evaluations, CMV was detected in 41/89 (46 per cent) and in 35/89 (39.3 per cent) children, respectively. Detection of CMV was shown both in urine and saliva in 28/39 (71.8 per cnet), 19/41(46.3 per cent) and 20/35 (57.1 per cent) of the children excreting the virus, respectively...