Seroimmunity preconception does not provide complete protection against congenital CMV infection

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Ross et al from the University of Alabama report an unexpected finding from their 20 years of prospective longitudinal studies of the epidemiology of maternal and congenital CMV infection. Seroimmunity preconception does not provide complete protection against congenital CMV-related hearing loss in offspring. The frequency of hearing loss was 10% in congenitally infected infants whose mothers had non-primary infection and 11% in those whose mothers had primary infection. Although seroimmunity preconception provided some protection against severe and progressive hearing loss, these data raise important considerations regarding proposed strategies and goals for development of CMV vaccines.