A prospective study on congenital and acquired cytomegalovirus infections in infants.

A preliminary report is presented on a current prospective virological and clinical study of congenital and acquired infant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. During a 1-year period, 7/2200 newborn Swedish infants investigated (0.3%) had a congenital CMV infection as shown by positive virus isolation. Two of them had typical symptoms, hepatosplenomegaly and petechiae in one case and splenomegaly in the other one. All of them had a normal birth weight and normal head circumference. No sequelae have been observed during an observation period of up to 9 months. Five out of 10 control infants followed-up acquired a CMV infection within a few months. 5/7 mothers of the congenitally infected infants and 3/14 mothers of the control infants were primiparas.