Aim and methods: Dried blood spots from 2149 newborns were examined to diagnose congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV).
Results: Prenatal CMV-IgG antibodies had been measured during prenatal care in 1287 (60.3%) of mothers and 980 (76.1%) of them were found seropositive. cCMV incidence was 0.47%. All newborns were asymptomatic; 9/10 were born post nonprimary maternal infection; two developed sensorineural hearing loss.
Conclusions: In a country where prenatal CMV testing is common and therefore a false sense of control might prevail, nonprimary maternal infection should not be overlooked. Indeed, women of childbearing age should be educated on CMV prevention measures irrespectively to their serostatus.
Keywords: Congenital; cytomegalovirus; dried blood spot; nonprimary infection; sensorineural hearing loss.