title: Cytomegalovirus infection in Gambian mothers and their babies.
abstract: A 15 month longitudinal study of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in 178 Gambian mothers and their babies was undertaken. Twenty five (14%) of the babies were congenitally infected despite the fact that 87% of their mothers were antibody positive to the virus. Two of the 25 congenitally infected infants had evidence of severe neurological damage; skin sepsis was also a prominent feature in congenitally infected infants. The other children soon became infected. At 6 months of age, 53% of the infants were shedding virus either in urine or saliva. By the age of 12 months 86% of the infants had serological evidence of CMV infection. Preliminary evidence suggests that sibling to sibling infection in crowded compounds might be a major route of transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Jos, Nigeria.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Whittle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000151:congenital / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D005260:Female; D005714:Gambia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009046:Motor Neurons; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000209:etiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G