Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections can cause serious complications and even death in very low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. In a prospective multicenter study of 539 VLBW infants and their mothers (n=462), researchers examined the incidence of postnatal CMV infection over the first 90 days after birth.
Using both an immunology-based screening test and a nucleic acid test, postnatal CMV infection was detected in 29 infants, 5 of which developed symptomatic infections or died. Only one congenital infection was identified. Over half of the infants received cellular blood component transfusions that were CMV-seronegative and leukoreduced; none of the CMV infections were linked to transfusion. CMV-positive breast milk was associated with 27 of 28 postnatal infections. Although CMV-seronegative and leukoreduced cellular blood products are effective at preventing transfusion-transmitted CMV infections, new strategies are needed to prevent breast-milk transmission.
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