Open AccessAwareness of congenital cytomegalovirus and acceptance of maternal and newborn screening
Author(s) -
Katie J. Tastad,
Mark R. Schleiss,
Sara Lammert,
Nicole E. Basta
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0221725
Subject(s) - cytomegalovirus , medicine , pregnancy , family medicine , prenatal screening , legislation , obstetrics , confounding , prenatal care , young adult , cytomegalovirus infections , pediatrics , environmental health , prenatal diagnosis , human cytomegalovirus , immunology , gerontology , herpesviridae , viral disease , fetus , population , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , virus , law , biology , genetics , political science
Objectives To assess awareness of cytomegalovirus (CMV); attitudes towards screening; and frequency of behaviors that could increase the risk of prenatal infection. Methods We conducted a survey among 726 women at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Minnesota residents aged 18–44 were eligible if they had never been pregnant or had been pregnant within the past 10 years. We compared responses between never-pregnant and recently-pregnant women. Results Only 20% of study participants had previously heard of CMV. Remarkably, recently-pregnant women were no more likely to be aware of CMV than never-pregnant women after adjusting for potential confounders. After receiving information about CMV, nearly all participants indicated they believed prenatal (96%) or newborn (96%) screening should be offered. Conclusions Although baseline awareness of CMV was low (even among recently-pregnant women), after learning more about the risks, women supported screening. Several states have passed or proposed legislation promoting CMV education and/or screening programs. We identified important gaps in knowledge about CMV among women who may benefit from education about how to reduce their risk of exposure and who may need to decide whether they would be willing to screen for CMV in the future.