Acquired cytomegalovirus infection in preterm infants.

Small sick preterm infants requiring care in a neonatal intensive care unit for more than 28 days were cultured for cytomegalovirus in urine and/or nasopharynx during two periods lasting a total of 13 months. Sixteen of 51 such infants began excreting the virus at 28 to 148 days of age (mean, 55 days). In 14 of the 16, a recognizable, self-limited symptom complex developed that consisted of respiratory deterioration, hepatosplenomegaly, a remarkable gray pallor, and both an atypical and absolute lymphocytosis. All of the infants with the clinical symptom complex had underlying chronic lung disease and all had received multiple blood transfusions during their hospitalization. Acquired cytomegalovirus may be relatively common in sick preterm infants and should be distinguished from other causes of rapid deterioration.