Screening for vaginal shedding of cytomegalovirus in healthy pregnant women using real-time PCR: Correlation of CMV in the vagina and adverse outcome

Screening for vaginal shedding of cytomegalovirus in healthy pregnant women using real-time PCR: Correlation of CMV in the vagina and adverse outcome of pregnancy
Kaori Tanaka 1, Hideto Yamada 2, Mashiho Minami 2, Soromon Kataoka 2, Kei Numazaki 3, Hisanori Minakami 2, Hiroyuki Tsutsumi 1 *
1Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
3Department of Virology 3, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan

email: Hiroyuki Tsutsumi (tsutsumi@sapmed.ac.jp)

*Correspondence to Hiroyuki Tsutsumi, Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Chuo-ku S-1, W-16, Sapporo 060-8543, Japan.

Funded by:
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; Grant Number: 17659510
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan

Keywords
cytomegalovirus • real-time PCR • miscarriage • pregnancy • vaginal swab


Abstract
The impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection of the genital tract during pregnancy on adverse pregnancy outcomes is not understood fully. A real-time PCR assay was used to determine vaginal shedding of CMV in 993 healthy pregnant Japanese women and the results were compared with the outcome of pregnancy. CMV DNA was detected in 76 (7.7%) of the women. The outcome of pregnancy could be determined finally in 848 women, of whom 60 (7.1%) were CMV positive. The carriers of CMV had an increased miscarriage rate (RR 6.96, 95% CI 2.04-23.84, P < 0.01). These findings suggest that latent genital tract CMV infection predisposes to adverse pregnancy outcomes. J. Med. Virol. 78:757-759, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.



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Accepted: 1 March 2006