Congenital Cytomegalovirus: Prevalence in Buenos Aires City

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a frequent cause of congenital infection and a leading nongenetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss. In most infants with congenital CMV infection, clinical abnormalities do not manifest at birth; rather, the infection is asymptomatic. However, sensorineural hearing loss eventually develops in approximately 10 to 15% of CMV positive children.

The prevalence of congenital cytomegalovirus has been reported as 0·2% to 2·0% (average of 0·64%). There is not any publication of the prevalence of cCMV in Buenos Aires City. We aim the study to find the prevalence in this population Screening of newborns for CMV infection permit early identification of at-risk congenitally infected infants for purposes of targeted monitoring and intervention during critical stages of speech and language development.

Testing saliva via DNA detection of the virus through polymerase chain reaction testing (PCR) or rapid culture is shown to have a high sensitivity (>97%) and specificity (99%) for detecting congenital CMV infection.

Our objective is to describe the prevalence of cCMV using saliva specimens for PCR detection.

Secondary objectives includes describing prevalence of neurosensorial hearing loss and visual impairments during 1 year follow up.