title: Cytomegalovirus-related childhood mortality in Australia 1999-2011.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important cause of congenital infection, which can result in neonatal deaths or contribute to deaths in later childhood. Post-natally acquired CMV is a less common cause of disease and mortality, and only in preterm infants or immunocompromised children. Here we sought to describe CMV as a direct or secondary contributor to childhood mortality in Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched national mortality data sets between1999 and 2011 for cases <15 years with CMV recorded as an underlying or contributing cause of death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-three CMV-associated deaths in children <15 years were identified (0.2 cases per 100 000 <15 years; 95% confidence interval 0.16-0.24). Childhood deaths associated with CMV were evenly distributed between males and females, and the majority (n = 57; 68%) occurred in children less than 12 months of age, with 22 cases <1 month of age. Over the 13-year study period, the mortality rate remained stable and CMV resulted in an estimated age-adjusted 5925 years of potential life lost.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CMV makes a small but important contribution to childhood mortality in Australia. Most CMV-related deaths occurred in infants <12 months of age. These infant deaths may be an indirect marker of the burden of severe intrauterine CMV disease given the natural history of this infection.
authors: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Centre for Perinatal Infection Research, Grace Centre for Newborn Care, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Hayley
authors: H
authors: Smithers-Sheedy
authors: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Centre for Perinatal Infection Research, Grace Centre for Newborn Care, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Camille
authors: C
authors: Raynes-Greenow
authors: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Centre for Perinatal Infection Research, Grace Centre for Newborn Care, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Badawi
authors: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Centre for Perinatal Infection Research, Grace Centre for Newborn Care, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Gulam
authors: G
authors: Khandaker
authors: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Menzies
authors: Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Centre for Perinatal Infection Research, Grace Centre for Newborn Care, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Cheryl A
authors: CA
authors: Jones
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003587:Cytomegalovirus; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
keywords: Australia; cytomegalovirus; mortality