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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface
Published on: July 21, 2016
Neonatal screening for congenital CMV infection stresses the importance of maternal nonprimary infection even in an
Vassiliki Papaevangelou1, Zoi Christoni2, Christianna Vliora3
1a Third Department of Pediatrics , National and Kapodistrian Univeristy of Athens Medical School, "ATTIKON" University Hospital , Athens , Greece.
Aim And Methods:
Dried blood spots from 2149 newborns were examined to diagnose congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV).
Results:
Prenatal CMV-IgG antibodies had been measured during prenatal care in 1287 (60.3%) of mothers and 980 (76.1%) of them were found seropositive. cCMV incidence was 0.47%. All newborns were asymptomatic; 9/10 were born post nonprimary maternal infection; two developed sensorineural hearing loss.
Conclusions:
In a country where prenatal CMV testing is common and therefore a false sense of control might prevail, nonprimary maternal infection should not be overlooked. Indeed, women of childbearing age should be educated on CMV prevention measures irrespectively to their serostatus.
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