Postnatally acquired cytomegalovirus infections in infants of CMV-excreting mothers.

A prospective study of cytomegalovirus-excreting pregnant women allowed us to identify a group of infants at high risk of acquiring CMV infection. Eighty-one infants free of CMV infection at birth were observed during the first year of life. Twenty-one became infected with CMV; 16 (76%) of these were detected within the first 14 weeks of life. Placental cultures from two of the 21 infants were CMV positive. The geometric mean cord blood antibody titers of postnatally infected and uninfected infants did not differ significantly. Clinical symptoms, including hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, or pneumonia, occurred in association with CMV infection in seven infants. Postnatally acquired CMV infections can be symptomatic, and by virtue of their prevalence, constitute an important health problem.