Neurological and growth outcomes in South African children with congenital cytomegalovirus: A cohort study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 9; p. e0238102
• Main Authors: Pathirana, Jayani, Texeira, Leanne, Munian, Hannah, Nakwa, Firdose, Mayet, Ismail, Maposa, Innocent, Groome, Michelle J, Boppana, Suresh, Madhi, Shabir A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 17.09.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Age; Anthropometry; Biology and Life Sciences; Birth weight; Births; Body measurements; Brain research; Children; Clinical medicine; Cohort analysis; Comparative analysis; Complications and side effects; Congenital diseases; Councils; Cysts; Cytomegalovirus; Cytomegalovirus infections; Exposure; Fetal diseases; Gestational age; Health care; Health sciences; Hearing; Hearing loss; HIV; Hospitals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immunoglobulins; Infants; Infections; Medical research; Medical screening; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mortality; Mothers; Neurologic manifestations; Neurological complications; Pathogens; Pediatrics; People and Places; Public health; Speech therapy; Ultrasonic imaging; Vaccines; Womens health; South Africa; Alabama; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238102

To assess neurological sequelae and growth in the first 12 months of life in a cohort of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infected infants compared to cCMV uninfected infants. This was a prospective matched cohort study conducted in Soweto, South Africa where forty-six confirmed cCMV cases were matched on HIV-exposure, gender and gestational age (±two weeks) to 84 cCMV-uninfected controls in a 1:2 ratio. Cases and controls were followed up until 12 months of age to assess anthropometry, hearing and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Thirty-four (73.9%) cCMV cases and 74 (88.1%) controls, completed all assessments at 12 months age. At 12 months, one cCMV case had died, none of the children in either group had SNHL and neurodevelopmental delay was present in a similar percentage of cCMV cases (n = 2; 6%) and controls (n = 1, 4%; OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.04-27.84, p = 0.958). Anthropometry did not differ between cases and controls overall throughout the follow up period. HIV-exposed cases had smaller head circumference for age at 6 and 12 months when compared with HIV-exposed controls. By 12 months of age, there was no evidence of a difference in neurological sequelae between cCMV infected South African children and cCMV uninfected children in this study. Further follow-up is warranted to detect late-onset hearing loss and neurodevelopmental delay beyond 12 months of age.