Anti-cytomegalovirus medications among very low birth weight infants in the United States from 2016 to 2023.

OBJECTIVE

Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are at risk for congenital and postnatally acquired cytomegalovirus (CMV). NICU utilization rates for anti-CMV active medications are unknown. We assessed utilization of these medications among VLBW infants admitted to NICUs across the U.S. over an 8-year period.

METHODS

Repeated cross-sectional study using data from the Premier Healthcare Database, including inborn VLBW infants admitted to NICUs from 2016 to 2023. Daily pharmacy charge data were used to estimate the annual proportion of infants who received anti-CMV medications at least once.

RESULTS

Among 75,731 VLBW infants admitted to 498 NICUs, 309 (0.4%) infants from 115 NICUs received anti-CMV medications; 228 infants received valganciclovir, 212 infants received ganciclovir. The proportion of VLBW infants receiving these medications was less than 1% annually. Most administrations started after 4 weeks (n = 261,84.5%).

CONCLUSION

Usage of anti-CMV medications among VLBW infants in U.S. NICUs was low and usually administered after 4 weeks.