[Prevalence of antibodies against CMV in Grenada]

The prevalence of anti-CMV antibodies was studied on 1,552 serum samples by means of latex passive haemagglutination method. Of all the sera studied, 1,084 were positive (69.8%). Amongst them, 523 samples came from women and 561 from men, which represent 74.7% and 65.8%, respectively. Regarding to age, 62.3% of the positive samples were from people under 30 years and 91.3% from subjects over that age. The screening of anti-CMV antibodies is especially important in blood and organ donors, where the high percentage of positivity makes it difficult to select negative blood donations. Thus, taking into account the cost-effectiveness, and the results of this study, the search for CMV-negative blood must be exerted preferentially on the group of blood donors under 30 years of age, regardless of sex.