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Lymphocyte responses and virus excretion as risk factors for intrauterine infection with cytomegalovirus
Author(s) -
Fernando S.,
Pearce J. M.,
Booth J. C.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.1890410205
Subject(s) - cytomegalovirus , virus , immunology , serology , lymphocyte , pregnancy , virology , medicine , herpesviridae , fetus , betaherpesvirinae , cytomegalovirus infection , excretion , antigen , human cytomegalovirus , antibody , viral disease , biology , genetics
Serological screening of pregnant women in this and a previous study identified 28 cases of primary infection with cytomegalovirus, 7 (25%) of whom transmitted the infection to their fetuses. Risk factors for intrauterine infection were 1) age less than 20 years, 2) Caucasian rather than nonCaucasian race, 3) a weak response to cytomegalovirus antigen in the lymphocyte transformation test, and 4) the excretion of cytomegalovirus in the urine. The greatest risk was when a weak lymphoproliferative response was detected in combination with a positive result for virus isolation, in which case the chance of fetal infection was 83%. Despite these associations, there was one important anomalous result of a woman who demonstrated a strong lymphocyte response during pregnancy and a negative result for virus isolation, but who gave birth to an infected baby who developed unilateral hearing loss.