RESUMO
This study sought for evidence of previous CMV infection in patients of a general hospital serving the low income population of Rio de Janeiro. An enzyme immunoassay was used to detect anti-CMV antibodies in 713 typical hospital patients classified into eight different groups. Positive tests were found in 87 per cent of pregnant women, 85 per cent of newborns, 61 per cent of pediatric patients, 77 per cent of adolescent patients, 81 per cent of adult patients, 87 per cent of dialysed transplant candidates 89 per cent of kidney donors, and 92 per cent of patients after transplantation. Depending of the subgroup studied these results carry different meanings and necessitate different clinical approaches. The risk of congenital disease is probably low in view of the reduced number of pregnant women still susceptible to primary infection. The number of primary infections will also be low in transplant recipients. However, those still susceptible will almost certainly acquire the infection from their donor. Prophylactic CMV matching in kdney transplantation is not a realistic approach due to the low probality of finding pairs of seronegative donors and recipients.