Cytomegalovirus and its role in congenital infection: A narrative-review study

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major cause of congenital infection worldwide. HCMV seroprevalence is higher in Asian regions than in European societies. Pregnant women can transmit the virus to their fetuses depending on the type of infection (primary or non-primary). Congenital HCMV infection is the leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss in children. Given the importance of HCMV, this narrative-review study was performed with aim to determine the role of HCMV in congenital infection.

In this narrative-review study, to find the related articles, the English and Persian databases including Google Scholar, PubMed and Magiran were searched from 2002 to 2019. The keywords of cytomegalovirus, congenital cytomegalovirus infection, diagnosis and prevalence both in Persian and English and also their combination used.

Developing countries estimated that the incidence of HCMV congenital infection is 6%-14%. While in developed countries such as Western Europe, United States, Canada and Australia, the incidence rate is 0.5-0.7%. Although HCMV infection is a significant cause of hearing loss and disability in children, there is still little awareness among general population and some physicians in this field. Several European countries routinely screen the pregnant women for HCMV but this screening is not currently performed in Iran.  

The studies in different societies highlighted the importance of congenital HCMV infection and its long-term complications in infants.