Transfusion-acquired cytomegalovirus infection in neonates. A prospective study.

The incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection was determined in 114 transfused neonates of any birthweight born to CMV antibody-negative mothers. In a second phase of this study, an additional 28 transfused infants weighing less than 1250 g, born to both CMV antibody-negative and antibody-positive mothers, were followed. All infants underwent weekly virus culture and monthly serology during hospitalization and at 6 to 12 weeks after their last transfusion. Only one of 126 (0.8%) seronegative infants and one of 16 (6.3%) seropositive infants developed CMV infection. If the assumption is made that the CMV-infected infant received only 1 unit of infectious blood, the risk of transfusion-acquired CMV infection to seronegative infants is 0.16 percent per cellular unit transfused or 0.37 percent per seropositive cellular unit transfused. Despite similarities in the prevalence of CMV antibody in the donor population, the age of blood products used, and the mean number of donor exposures, a significantly lower incidence of CMV infection was found in the seronegative transfused infants than that in two previously published studies (p less than 0.01, p less than 0.001). Because no mortality and very little morbidity could be attributed to transfusion-acquired CMV infection in the nurseries, the authors can see no justification for the provision of specialized blood components for the prevention of CMV infection in this patient population.