Early high CMV seroprevalence in pregnant women from a population with a high rate of congenital infection

Abstract

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection rates increase with maternal seroprevalence due to transmission from maternal non-primary infection. CMV seroprevalence estimates of pregnant women are needed for planning strategies against congenital CMV transmission. We aimed to determine the age-specific prevalence of serum antibodies for CMV in a representative age-stratified sample of unselected pregnant women from a Brazilian population. A total of 985 pregnant women, aged 12–46 years (median 24 years), were enrolled. Overall CMV seroprevalence was 97% (95% confidence interval 95.8–98.0), with age-specific (years) prevalence as follows: 12–19 (96.3%), 20–24 (97.7%), 25–29 (97.1%), and 30–46 (96.7%). CMV seroprevalence is almost universal (97%) and is found at similar levels in pregnant women of ages ranging from 12 to 46 years. Because high CMV seroprevalence is found even in women of a younger age in this population, this finding suggests that the majority of primary CMV infections occur early, in infancy or childhood. As a consequence, vaccines currently under development to prevent primary infection may not be a solution for the prevention of congenital CMV infection in this population.

Cytomegalovirus Infection in Pregnancy

“…When women's origin was taken into consideration, seroprevalence among pregnant women of low socioeconomic level was 95%; among pregnant students, 69.9%, according to a cross-sectional study undertaken in Chile (37) . Those findings are similar to what is found in Brazil, where a study conducted with low-and medium-income pregnant women showed seroprevalence of 92.9% (10) . Controversially, a study among high-income pregnant women in Brazil showed a seroprevalence of 84% (38) .…”

“…Whereas a non-primary infection shows a rate of vertical transmission of 1% (8) , a primary infection has a rate of 30%-40% (9) . CMV is a ubiquitous virus and its infection occurs mainly in childhood in most populations (10) . Its seroprevalence among women in reproductive age varies according to country and other epidemiological factors, with rates ranging from 40% (11,12) in developed countries to over 90% (10,13,14) in developing countries.…”

Association Between Cytomegalovirus Infection and Bad Obstetric Outcomes in Women from Kirkuk

“…The present study shows a high CMV IgG overall seroprevalence (92.1%), with no significant differences between rate in women with BOH and that with normal pregnancy. Thus the susceptibility rate in our study population was 7.9%, which was higher to that reported recently for Turkey [11], [17]- [22], Nigeria [23], [24], Brazil [25], Iran [26], [27], Bangladesh [28], Korea [29], and Cuba [30]. However, our study susceptibility was lower than that reported for France [31], Nepal [32], India [13], [33], [34], Switzerland [35], Croatia [36], Malaysia [37], Iran [12], [38], Poland [39], Ireland [10], Russia [40], Taiwan [41], Germany [42], Azerbaijan [43], Bangladesh [44], and Brazil [45].…”

Seroepidemiology of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women in Durango City, Mexico

“…The 65.6% seroprevalence found in pregnant women in Durango is similar to the 62.4%-66% seroprevalences reported in pregnant women in Poland [13], Japan [14], and Norway [15], and higher than the 49% seroprevalence in white British pregnant women in the United Kingdom [16] and a 42.3% seroprevalence in pregnant women in Germany [17]. In contrast, the seroprevalence found in pregnant women in Durango is lower than the 92.6%-100% seroprevalences reported in pregnant women in Iran [18], Palestine [19], Brazil [20], Turkey [21], Nigeria [22], and Cuba [23]. …”