Cytomegalovirus Shedding in Healthy Seropositive Female College Students: A 6-Month Longitudinal Study

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) establishes a lifelong latent infection after primary infection and may reactivate periodically, with the shedding of infectious virus in body fluids. To better understand the prevalence and shedding model of CMV in immunocompetent seropositive women of childbearing age, a 6-month longitudinal study was conducted in healthy female college students.

A total of 102 nonpregnant female college students aged 18-30 years were enrolled and followed up every 2 weeks for 6 months. Saliva and urine samples were collected at each visit. Serum samples were collected at the first and last visits.

All participants were positive for anti-CMV immunoglobulin G (IgG) at entry. During the 6-month period, 29.4% of participants (30 of 102) shed CMV intermittently in saliva or urine. At each visit, the CMV shedding prevalence varied from 2.0% to 10.4% and presented only in 1 bodily fluid. The viral load was low and did not induce marked antibody increases. The baseline anti-CMV IgG level was not found to be associated with viral shedding.

CMV shedding in saliva and urine is common and intermittent and does not stimulate an anamnestic antibody response in seropositive immunocompetent women of childbearing age with a low risk of exposure to exogenous infectious sources.