Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: Experience from a tertiary health care centre of North India

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major cause of congenital infection in humans. Most of the congenitally infected infants (85%-90%) are asymptomatic at birth but 5% to 15% of them develop sequelae mostly as sensorineural hearing loss, visual impairment or delay of psychomotor development. The prevalence of congenital infection ranges from 0.3% to 2.3% of all live births in different populations[1]. In developed countries, the disease is well-documented and is the most common congenital infection with about 0.6%-0.7% of all the infants infected with it[2]. Epidemiologically, the seroprevalence of CMV infection varies not only in different regions of the world but also between socioeconomic groups and different age groups. Dense population, overcrowding, low literacy, poor sanitation, unhygienic conditions, etc, are among the various reasons predisposing people of developing countries and even poorer society of developed countries to CMV infection and so high seroprevalence[3]. Various general population studies from India record a high seroprevalene rate in adults of upto 99%, making it a country with high seroimmune status[4]. Most of the studies done in females of reproductive age group in India have been done to know the possible association with pregnancy loss or congenital malformations in children born to them. The rate of CMV IgG incidence in women of reproductive age group vary from 80%-90%[5] while IgM seropositivity varies from 7%-20%[6]. In children suspected of having PEER REVIEW ABSTRACT