Incidence and Risk of Cytomegalovirus Infection during Pregnancy in an Urban Area of Northern Italy

The fetal consequences of CMV infection make it one of the most serious infections contracted during pregnancy, but the scientific community is divided over the proposed implementation of preventive screening for anti-CMV antibodies. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and risk of infection during pregnancy in 2817 women who underwent anti-CMV IgG and IgM antibody screening during the period 2005-2007. The prevalence of anti-CMV IgG antibodies was 68.3% (95% CI: 66.6-70.0); the seroconversion rate in the 892 seronegative women was 0.32%; the results of IgG avidity testing revealed an cumulative incidence of 1.4% (95% CI: 0.97-1.83), density incidence of 0.8% (as cases/pregnant woman-trimester) (95% CI: 0.47-1.13), and a risk of infection of 0.5% (95% CI: 0.24-0.76). The screening identified 13 cases of primary infection (84.6% of which occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy). The possibility to identify these cases and consequently to plan appropriate interventions, supports the use of screening during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester when the risk of infection is greater.