Maternal cytomegalovirus serology results by geographic region in a large multicenter United States study

Authors

• Brenna L. Hughes, From the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
• Cora MacPherson, The George Washington University Biostatistics Center, Washington, DC, USA.
• Dwight J. Rouse, From the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
• George R. Saade, the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
• Mara J. Dinsmoor, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
• Uma M. Reddy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA.
• Robert Pass, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
• Donna Allard, From the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
• Gail Mallett, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
• Rebecca G. Clifton, The George Washington University Biostatistics Center, Washington, DC, USA.
• Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
• Michael W. Varner, the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
• William H. Goodnight, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
• Alan T. Tita, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
• Maged M. Costantine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
• Geeta K. Swamy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
• Kent D. Heyborne, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
• Edward K. Chien, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
• Suneet P. Chauhan, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, TX, USA.
• Yasser Y. El-Sayed, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
• Brian M. Casey, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
• Samuel Parry, the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
• Hyagriv N. Simhan, the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
• Peter G. Napolitano, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA, USA.
• George A. Macones, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

4-18-2026

Journal

The Journal of infectious diseases

DOI

10.1093/infdis/jiag224

Keywords

adverse pregnancy outcomes; cytomegalovirus hyperimmune globulin

Abstract

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, due to both nonprimary and primary maternal infection, affects nearly 1% of neonates. In conducting a randomized trial of hyperimmune globulin for prevention of congenital CMV infection, we screened over 200,000 pregnancies across the United States for evidence of prior or primary CMV infection and evaluated their geographic variation. Although the majority were seropositive, seroprevalence and primary infection risk varied significantly by geographic region, with seroprevalence the highest (88%) and primary infection (0.2%) the lowest in the Southwest. This variation in seroprevalence by geography may inform planning of public health measures to decrease congenital CMV.

APA Citation

Hughes, Brenna L.; MacPherson, Cora; Rouse, Dwight J.; Saade, George R.; Dinsmoor, Mara J.; Reddy, Uma M.; Pass, Robert; Allard, Donna; Mallett, Gail; Clifton, Rebecca G.; Gyamfi-Bannerman, Cynthia; Varner, Michael W.; Goodnight, William H.; Tita, Alan T.; Costantine, Maged M.; Swamy, Geeta K.; Heyborne, Kent D.; Chien, Edward K.; Chauhan, Suneet P.; El-Sayed, Yasser Y.; Casey, Brian M.; Parry, Samuel; Simhan, Hyagriv N.; Napolitano, Peter G.; and Macones, George A., "Maternal cytomegalovirus serology results by geographic region in a large multicenter United States study" (2026). GW Authored Works. Paper 9036.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/9036

Department

Epidemiology