Cytomegalovirus a common cause of intrauterine infection: a case-control study

ABSTRACT

Congenital cytomegalovirus [CM.V] infection affects nearly 1% of live births in the United States. Ten percent of these infants have symptoms at birth and another 10 to 15% develop hearing loss or developmental problems. The aim of this study was to compare CMV infection [IgM and IgG] rate in infants suspected for intrauterine infection with the control group. A case-control study was performed in the Pediatrics Department of Hazrat Rasool Akram Hospital in Tehran. The study population included 74 suspected cases of intrauterine infection [mean age, 4.7 +/- 3.7 months] and 65 normal healthy controls [mean age, 5.3 +/- 3.1 months]. We compared serum CMV antibodies [IgM, IgG] with ELISA kits. Acute and previous immunity to CMV [IgM and IgG] was found in 41.9% [31/74] and 74% [54/74] of cases, respectively. These figures were 6.2% [4/65] and 95.4% [62/65] in controls, respectively. Acute infection [CMV-IgM.] was more common among cases [p<0.0001], but previous immunity [CMV-IgG] was more prevalent among controls [p<0.00l]. We concluded that CMV is the most common cause of intrauterine infection in infants aged less than 6 months as compared to the healthy ones. We prefer, at least in our country, to consider seropositive [CMV-lgM] infants suspected of intrauterine infection [less than 6 months] as congenital form. To arrest the natural progression of congenital CMV, we recommend prolonged course of oral analogues of ganciclovir for children with symptomatic congenital CMV