seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women referred to health care center of khorramabad

background and aims: cytomegalovirus (cmv) is a member of herpesviruses. it is one of the most common cause of congenital and prenatal infections. cmv infection of pregnant women, especially in the first trimester may lead to congenital abnormalities in the newborns. the prevalence of cmv infection in developed countries is about 40% and in developing countries may be 100%. because there is no information related to the epidemiology of this infection in khorramabad city, this study was done to determine the seroprevalence rate of the infection and its associated risk factors in pregnant women who referred to the health care centers of this city in 2008. materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was done in 240 pregnant women. demographic data were collected by a questionnaire. about 3 ml of blood was taken from each patient. aliquots of serum samples were stored at -20°c until analyzed. the presence of anti-cmv specific antibodies was assessed by enzyme immunoassays. data were analyzed by fisher's exact test and χ2 test using spss software version 11.5. results: mean age of cases was 26 years and varied between 15-40 years. cmv igg was found in 217 cases (90.6%) out of 240 cases. 97 people (86%) of the cases who were pregnant for the first time were positive regarding to cmv-igg. in women who had 1-3 or more than 3 deliveries, this rate was 94% and 100% respectively. there was a significant relationship between the number of deliveries and the positive result of the test (cmv-igg). there were no significant relationship between age, abortion history and number, education level and the stage of pregnancy with test result (p>0.05). conclusion: as in other developing countries, the prevalence rate of cmv infection in pregnant women in khorramabad was high. since the infection is prevalent and the potential abnormalities associated with it, it is highly recommended to expand preventive measures and inform population how to prevent the infection and associated consequences.