CYTOMEGALOVIRUS, A COMMON CAUSE OF INTRAUTERINE INFECTION: A CASE - CONTROL STUDY IN TEHRAN, IRAN

Background and aim: congenital cytomegalovirus (cmv) infection affects~1% of live births in the united states. ten percent of these infants have symptoms at birth and another 10 to 15% develop hearing loss or developmental problems. the aim of this study was to compare cmv infection (igm and igg) in infants suspected for intrauterine infection with the controls.materials and methods: a case control study was performed in the pediatrics department of hazrat rasool akram hospital in tehran (2002-2003). we compared the serum cmv antibodies (igm & igg- elisa) of 74 cases suspected of intrauterine infection (mean age =4.7±3.7 months) with that of 65 controls (mean age=5.3±3.1 months).results: acute and previous immunity to cmv (igm and igg ) was found in 41.9% (31.74) and 74% (54.74) of the cases ,respectively. meanwhile acute infection (igm) was observed in 6.2% (4.65) and previous immunity (igg) in 95.4% (62.65) of the controls. acute infection (cmv-igm) was higher in cases (p-value=0.000), but previous immunity (cmv-igg) was higher in the controls (p value=0.001).conclusion: we conclude that like other countries, cmv is the most common cause of intrauterine infection in infants aged less than 6 months as compared to the healthy ones. we prefer, at least in our country, to consider seropositive (cmv-igm) infants suspected of intrauterine infection (less than 6 months) as congenital form.to arrest the natural progression of congenital cmv, we recommend prolonged course of oral analogues of ganciclovir for children with symptomatic congenital cmv