title: The epidemiology of cytomegaloviral infection in women attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic.
abstract: To test the hypothesis that cytomegalovirus (CMV) is sexually transmitted, we examined the association of CMV infection with indices of sexual activity in 347 women attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that seropositivity to CMV (complement-fixation antibody titer, greater than or equal to 1:8) was most closely associated with number of sex partners in the subjects' lifetime (P less than .0001), young age at first sexual intercourse (P = .0002), and nonwhite race (P = .0007). Among seropositive women, cervical shedding of CMV was most strongly associated with younger age (P = .0001) and the presence of cervical chlamydial infection (P = .016). Among 84 seronegative women followed up for a mean of 18.4 weeks, 11 (13%) developed primary CMV infections, an annual incidence of 37%. Sexual contact seems to be an important mode of acquisition of CMV in some young women.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Wentworth
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Gutman
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Wiesner
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Handsfield
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000382:microbiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral