Cytomegalovirus infection common during pregnancy

Cytomegalovirus infection common during pregnancy
by Will Boggs, MD

Last Updated: 2007-07-27 16:58:22 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection occurs commonly during pregnancy, risking congenital CMV for thousands of infants each year, according to a report in the July 2nd BMC Infectious Diseases.

"More children suffer serious disabilities caused by congenital CMV than by several better-known childhood maladies, such as Down syndrome or fetal alcohol syndrome," Dr. Michael J. Cannon from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia told Reuters Health. "The greatest impact obstetrician-gynecologists can have on reducing CMV disease is by educating patients about preventive measures such as careful hand hygiene when they have contact with young children."

Dr. Cannon and colleagues used age-specific CMV seroprevalences from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) to estimate CMV incidence among individuals age 12 to 49 years, especially among pregnant women.

Among 12-49 year-olds in the United States, the force of CMV infection is 1.6 per 100 persons, the authors report, and an estimated 27,000 women each year experience primary CMV infection during pregnancy. (The authors define "force of infection" as "an instantaneous per capita rate of acquisition of infection that approximates the incidence of infection in the seronegative population.")

Overall, the force of CMV infection is significantly higher among non-Hispanic Blacks (5.7/100 persons) and Mexican Americans (5.1) than among non-Hispanic Whites (1.4) and significantly higher in low household income groups (3.5) than in middle (2.1) and upper (1.5) household income groups.

Among seronegative women between 12 and 49 years old, the risk of primary CMV infection during a full-term pregnancy was much higher for non-Hispanic Blacks (7.33%) than for Mexican Americans (2.21%) or non-Hispanic Whites (0.15%), the investigators say.

Most of the estimated 27,000 primary CMV infections during pregnancy each year occur in non-Hispanic Whites, however, because they are the largest racial/ethnic group in the U.S., the investigators say.

"The Institute of Medicine has identified development of a CMV vaccine as a highest priority," Dr. Cannon said. "We are investigating how future CMV vaccines will affect the congenital CMV disease epidemic. Unfortunately, an effective vaccine is not likely to become available for a number of years. In the meantime, we are also evaluating messages and programs for helping pregnant women reduce their transmission risk through traditional public health methods such as improved hand hygiene."

Dr. Cannon recommended visiting http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/clinicians.htm for more information.



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