Primary Infection With Human Cytomegalovirus: Virus Isolation From Healthy Infants and Pregnant Women1

Numazaki, Y. (Sendai Natl. Hosp., Sendai, Japan), N. Yano, T. Morizuko, S. Takai and N. Ishida. Primary infection with human cytomegalovirus: Virus isolation from healthy infants and pregnant women. Amer. J. Epid., 1970, 97: 410–417.—To document the occurrence of primary infection with human cytomegalovirus (CMV), healthy infants living at home, from birth to one year of age, were studied for evidence of CMV infection. Excretion of the virus was not demonstrated in newborn infants, but dearly demonstrated among over 60% of infants between 5 and 9 months of age, based on tests of oral swabs and urine. The incidence of excretion apparently diminished when infants reached 10 to 12 months of age. Complement-fixing antibodies were present in over 60% of infants between 6 and 12 months of age. Taken together, the results suggest that primary infection with human CMV occurs in over 60% of healthy infants living at home, without clinical manifestations, by 5 months of age. Excretion of CMV was also demonstrated in cervical secretions of 10% of normal pregnant women during the second trimester and 28% of those at term. On the basis of virus isolation from healthy infants and pregnant women, the possibility of vertical transmission to healthy infants was discussed.