RESUMO
The prevalence of antibodies against cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the incidence of CMV infection were tested in 98 children aged 5 to 36 months who attended the day-care center of a University hospital in São Paulo. At the beginning of the study the overall prevalence of anti-CMV IgG antibodies was 44 (43/98). Saliva and/or urine samples were obtained from 38 of the 43 children that were seropositive at the beginning of the study for isolation of the virus, and 52.6 of these children were found to excrete CMV in one of the two materials. Among the 37 children that were initially seronegative from whom it was possible to obtain a new blood sample 6 to 12 months later, 22 (59.5) presented seroconversion. The rate of viral excretion through urine or saliva from the children that seroconverted was 50. These results indicate that CMV infection is frequent and occurs early among the children who attend this day-care center. However, controlled studies using molecular epidemiology techniques are needed to define more precisely the role of day-care centers in CMV dissemination.