A comparison of cervical cytomegalovirus (CMV) excretion in gynaecological patients and post-partum women

Abstract

CMV was isolated from the cervix of 4.2 per cent of 191 gynaecological patients and from 9.8 per cent of 51 women post-partum; all patients were attending the same general practice clinic. The CMV excretion rate was particularly high in the early post-partum period decreasing to nearly normal levels as menstruation returned. Three of 14 (21.4 per cent) post-partum patients excreted CMV before menses had restarted whereas virus was isolated from only two of 36 (5.6 per cent) women who had returned to a normal menstrual cycle. Although this difference was not statistically significant, the excretion rate early post-partum was significantly higher than in the gynaecological group (p less than 0.05). Five of seven excretors in the gynaecological group were in the first half of a menstrual cycle at the time of virus isolation thus suggesting that hormonal changes may lead to CMV reactivation in the genital tract. Other factors which may influence the presence of CMV in the genital tract of non-pregnant women are discussed. Three of four infant born to women excreting virus on the cervix post-partum became infected with CMV.

Human cytomegalovirus non-primary infection during pregnancy: antibody response, risk factors and newborn outcome

“…However, this study did not find an increase of viral detection with the progression of pregnancy, and observed a higher rate of HCMV detection in saliva. Results of our study are more similar to the other reports showing an increase of HCMV detection during gestation, especially in the genital tract [11][12][13][14][15]. Due to the higher rate of positivity, vaginal swab would be the sample of choice to investigate non-primary infection in pregnant women.…”

Immune Reconstitution Syndrome and Exacerbation of Infections after Pregnancy

“…In total, 20% of pregnant women during the first trimester, 78% during the second trimester, and 100% at the end of the third trimester had suppressed responses; these responses reverted to normal 8 weeks after parturition [90]. The rates of cytomegalovirus excretion in women early during the postpartum period (9.8%) were higher than in gynecologic patients (4.2%) in the same clinic; a decrease to normal rate was achieved after the women experienced the return of menstruation [91]. Reactivation of latent human papilloma virus infection was proposed to account for a progressive increase in the frequency of this infection as gestational age progressed [92].…”

Cytomegalovirus Shedding in Seropositive Pregnant Women From a High-Seroprevalence Population: The Brazilian Cytomegalovirus Hearing and Maternal Secondary Infection Study

“…This variation could be from the methods used to detect CMV shedding in earlier studies, sociodemographic and sexual activity characteristics, hygienic practices, contact with children, and the CMV seropositivity status of the populations. In general, culture-based studies revealed lower rates of CMV shedding in adults (2.6%-9.4%) [10,18,19], including women attending sexually transmitted disease clinics (1.8%-9.4%) [20]. In contrast, higher rates of shedding in healthy adults (7.0%-33.7%) have been reported in studies using PCR-based assays [9,14,[21][22][23][24][25].…”