Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Feb 26;289(8):1008-11.
doi: 10.1001/jama.289.8.1008.

Maternal immunity and prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Karen B Fowler  1 , Sergio Stagno, Robert F Pass
Affiliations

Maternal immunity and prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Karen B Fowler et al. JAMA. .

Abstract

Context: Vaccine development to prevent congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has been impeded by the uncertainty over whether maternal immunity protects the fetus.

Objective: To determine whether the presence of maternal antibodies to CMV significantly reduces the risk of congenital CMV infection in future pregnancies.

Design, setting, and participants: Cohort study of 3461 multiparous women from a population with a high rate of congenital CMV infection who delivered newborns screened for congenital CMV infection between 1993 and 1998, and whose cord serum specimen from a previous delivery could be retrieved and tested for antibody to CMV.

Main outcome measure: Congenital CMV infection according to maternal immune status, age, race, parity, and socioeconomic status.

Results: Of 604 newborns born to initially seronegative mothers, congenital CMV infection occurred in 18 (3.0%). In contrast, of 2857 newborns born to immune mothers, congenital CMV infection occurred in 29 (1.0%) Two factors, preconception maternal immunity (adjusted risk ratio, 0.31; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.58) and maternal age of 25 years or older (adjusted risk ratio, 0.19; 95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.49), were highly protective against congenital CMV infection. No other factors were associated with a reduction in the risk of congenital CMV infection.

Conclusion: Naturally acquired immunity results in a 69% reduction in the risk of congenital CMV infection in future pregnancies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms