Longitudinal, serological study of cytomegalovirus infections in nurses and in personnel without patient contact.

Sera were obtained at intervals from 172 hospital employees for measurement of cytomegalovirus (CMV) complement fixation (CF) and indirect hemagglutination antibody. No fourfold rises or falls in titer were seen over a 19- to 27-month period among 71 employees with initially positive CMV CF titers. The concurrence rate between the CMV CF and the indirect hemagglutination antibody tests in identifying seronegative personnel was 96%. Five seroconversions were identified during an average follow-up period of 15 to 17 months per person among 65 pediatric nurses whose CMV CF titers had initially been less than 1:8. No seroconversions were seen during an average follow-up period of 29 months per person among 27 hospitad little patient contact. The rate of acquisition of CMV infections in seronegative pediatric nurses was 4.1 to 7.7% per year. Sera from 9 of the 172 employees studied (5.2%) gave inconsistent results at the lower limits of the CF test.