Does hygiene counseling have an impact on the rate of CMV primary infection during pregnancy? Results of a 3-year prospective study in a French hospital.

BACKGROUND

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most frequent cause of congenital viral infection in developed countries.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of our prenatal CMV infection screening and counseling policy.

STUDY DESIGN

Since 2005, all pregnant women in our obstetric center have been informed about CMV infection, and if they agree, given a serological test at around 12 weeks of gestation (WG). If this first test is negative, the women and their partners are given hygiene counseling on how to prevent CMV infection, and a second test is performed at around 36 WG.

RESULTS

Among the 5312 women who had an unknown immune status, or were known to be seronegative when they had their first visit to our center for their current pregnancy, 97.4% agreed to CMV screening. Primary infection was detected in 11 women between 0 and 12 WG (0.42%), and seroconversion was diagnosed in five women between 12 and 36 WG (0.19%).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that if clear information is given on CMV infection during pregnancy, the rate of seroconversion is lower following counseling than before counseling.