The seroepidemiological study on cytomegalovirus in women of child-bearing age with special reference to pregnancy and maternal-fetal transmission.

We screened 500 women of childbearing age belonging to different socioeconomic class for the presence of IgM antibodies against cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection by ELISA. Among these were 70 pregnant women, positive for CMVspecific IgM antibodies, whose newborns were also tested for the same. IgM positivity was found to be 5.4% (27/500) while 2.2% (11/500) gave equivocal results. There was an increasing trend in IgM positivity with age, decreasing socioeconomic status and increasing parity. Prevalence rate was more in women from rural as compared to those of urban area. Among the pregnant women, in the higher income group, 4 (14.28%) had CMV specific IgM antibodies as compared to 9 (21.43%) of low income. Congenital infection occurred more often (14.28 vs 7.14%) in infants in low income group. Signs and symptoms compatible with acute CMV infection were found in 7.69% (1/13) women and 27.78% (5/18) newborns. Thus the need for screening and protection against this infection is further emphasized.