Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in a neonatal intensive care unit in brazil evaluated by PCR and association with perinatal aspects.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common congenital infection, affecting 0.4% to 2.3% newborns. Most of them are asymptomatic at birth, but later 10% develop handicaps, mainly neurological disturbances. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of CMV shed in urine of newborns from a neonatal intensive care unit using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and correlate positive cases to some perinatal aspects. Urine samples obtained at first week of life were processed according to a PCR protocol. Perinatal data were collected retrospectively from medical records. Twenty of the 292 cases (6.8%) were CMV-DNA positive. There was no statistical difference between newborns with and without CMV congenital infection concerning birth weight (p=0.11), gestational age (p=0.11), Apgar scores in the first and fifth minutes of life (p=0.99 and 0. 16), mother's age (p=0.67) and gestational history. Moreover, CMV congenital infection was neither related to gender (p=0.55) nor to low weight (<2,500 g) at birth (p=0.13). This high prevalence of CMV congenital infection (6.8%) could be due to the high sensitivity of PCR technique, the low socioeconomic level of studied population or the severe clinical status of these newborns.
Santos
D V
DV
Departamento de Anatomia Patológica e Medicina Legal, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Souza
M M
MM
Gonçalves
S H
SH
Cotta
A C
AC
Melo
L A
LA
Andrade
G M
GM
Brasileiro-Filho
G
G
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000151:congenital / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
D017931:DNA Primers