Knowledge gaps regarding congenital cytomegalovirus among pregnant women, co-parents and healthcare professionals in a French-speaking network in Belgium: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a common congenital infection and cause of sensorineural hearing loss and neurodevelopmental impairment. Without an effective vaccine or widely recommended screening, prevention relies on hygiene measures and education.

OBJECTIVE

To assess CMV knowledge, awareness, and communication among healthcare professionals, pregnant women, and co-parents in French-speaking Belgium.

STUDY

DESIGN

A multicenter cross-sectional survey included healthcare professionals (gynaecologists and midwives), pregnant women, and co-parents. Healthcare professionals completed an online questionnaire, pregnant women and co-parents completed questionnaires at second-trimester scans. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS

A total of 186 healthcare professionals, 184 pregnant women, and 125 co-parents participated. Although 91.2 % of healthcare professionals reported providing CMV information, only 54.3 % (100/184) of pregnant women and 39.0 % (48/123 available responses) of co-parents reported receiving it, despite 90.2 % and 86.4 %, respectively, wishing to be informed. Knowledge gaps persisted among healthcare professionals: 57.7 % correctly estimated vertical transmission risk and 39.2 % correctly indicated that in-utero treatment can reduce vertical transmission. Among pregnant women, 64.7 % correctly identified transmission routes and 48.9 % preventive hygiene measures. No significant association was found between CMV awareness and parity or exposure to children younger than 3 years.

CONCLUSION

CMV knowledge and communication gaps persist among healthcare professionals, pregnant women, and co-parents in this French-speaking Belgian network. The group-level difference between healthcare professionals' reported counselling and participants' reported receipt of CMV information suggests that effective delivery and retention of preventive information remain challenging. Targeted educational strategies, including for women with previous children or exposure to young children, may strengthen congenital CMV prevention.