Prevalence and Recurrence Rates of Cytomegalovirus Infection Among Patients With Hematological Diseases in the Western Brazilian Amazon: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a worldwide distributed pathogen that may cause serious complications in patients with hematological diseases. This study aimed to serologically characterize CMV infection in patients suffering from hematological diseases in Amazonas state, Brazil. Serum samples from 323 patients were tested for the presence of anti-CMV IgM or IgG antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Positive samples for IgM were submitted to the IgG avidity test to differentiate primary infection from recurrent infection. An epidemiological questionnaire was administered to collect the sociodemographic information of the study population. The overall prevalence of CMV infection verified in this study was 91.3%. The highest rates were found in patients suffering from platelet disorders (94.5%), anemia (93.3%), or leukemia (91%). The study population was predominantly composed of individuals with low socioeconomic status. Blood transfusions were more common in patients with anemia or leukemia, but this variable was not correlated with the seropositivity for CMV infection. Measurement of IgG avidity in patients positive for anti-CMV IgM demonstrated a recurrent infection rate of 5.2% (17/323). Over 80% of recurrent infections occurred in patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) or anemia. Our findings indicated that CMV infection is highly prevalent in patients from the western Brazilian Amazon who have hematological diseases. The prevalence observed progressively rose with increasing age, whereas anemia or ALL figured as risk factors for the recurrence of CMV infection.

Epidemiological Survey and Risk Factor Analysis of 14 Potential Pathogens in Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys at Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, China

“…CMV is known as one of the best host-adapted opportunistic pathogens, and is characterized by slow replication, the establishment of latency, and frequent reactivation [ 69 , 70 ]. CMV infections in humans and NHPs are usually asymptomatic [71, but 15% of the infants, who are congenitally infected with CMV, develop neurological sequelae, which primarily manifest as progressive hearing loss [ 71 ].…”

“…Based on the severity of the diseases in monkeys and of zoonotic diseases in humans, among the 5 pathogens detected in this study, ADV and HAV pose a higher risk to golden snub-nosed monkeys, as these two viruses could cause acute diseases; meanwhile, based on the current research, the risk of MaHV-1, GsmCMV and SFV in monkeys is lower. In addition, ADV, MaHV-1 and HAV pose the highest risk to humans, while the risk of CMV and SFV is lower [ 13 , 14 , 20 , 66 , 69 ]. This is because Shennongjia is one of the most famous tourist destinations in China and visitors to Shennongjia might have close contact with the monkeys by feeding them, playing with them, and walking around.…”

Identification of Novel Drug Targets and Immune Response Biomarkers in HCMV-Infected Hosts

“…The exact prevalence rate of HCMV worldwide is di cult to determine because most of the time it goes undiagnosed and depends upon various factors including geographical region, population demographics, and access to healthcare (Kareem et al, 2022;Zhou et al, 2021). However, a recent study veri ed the prevalence rate to be 91.3% in western Brazilian Amazon among patients with hematological diseases (de Melo Silva et al, 2021). The mortality rate of HCMV is di cult to determine because it is not always listed as the direct cause of death and it depends on several factors such as the individual's overall health, and immune status (Scarpini et al, 2021).…”