Method of blood processing affects the prevalence of cytomegalovirus excretion in newborn nurseries.

The potential risk of exposure by hospital personnel and noninfected patients to patients excreting the cytomegalovirus (CMV) may be increased in areas of high prevalence of CMV excretion, such as the neonatal nursery. These personnel are particularly sensitized to the adverse effects of intrauterine CMV infection because they frequently care for the severely affected congenitally infected infants. Multiple transfusions with conventionally processed blood have been associated with high excretion rates in sick preterm neonates. During a 4-year period, four separate methods of blood preparation were used. Two of these methods (CMV-seronegative blood and frozen deglycerolized red blood cells) have been previously shown to be effective in reducing posttransfusion CMV infection. We were able to show that excretion rates in neonates were significantly lower when CMV-seronegative blood and frozen deglycerolized red blood cells were used than when conventionally processed blood and saline-washed red blood cells were used. In areas where posttransfusion CMV infection has been identified as a problem, the increased expense of specially processed blood can be justified, not only to reduce transfusion-associated disease but also to minimize exposure of the hospital staff and noninfected patients to patients excreting CMV.