Objectives: To determine the rates of congenital and perinatal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection among infants born to mothers infected with HIV compared with infants born to mothers not infected with HIV from a CMV-immune, low-income population.
Study design: A total of 325 newborns from CMV-seropositive mothers were enrolled and evaluated for congenital CMV infection (150 infants from HIV+ mothers and 175 infants from HIV- mothers. A total of 101 infants from HIV+ mothers and 33 infants from HIV- mothers were evaluated for perinatal CMV infection. The virus was isolated from urine by culture in human fibroblasts and was detected by polymerase chain reaction at birth and at 15 days and 12 weeks of age.
Results: Only 13 of 150 HIV+ mothers (8.7%) had an AIDS-defining condition, and none had a late-stage HIV infection. Congenital CMV infection was detected in 4 of 150 (2.7%) infants from HIV+ mothers and in 5 of 175 (2.9%) infants from HIV- mothers (p = 1.00). Perinatal CMV infection was diagnosed in 8 of 101 (7.9%) infants from HIV+ mothers and in 13 of 33 (39.4%) infants from HIV- mothers (p < 0.00001). Most infants (93.9%) from HIV- mothers and only 5.9% of infants from HIV+ mothers were breastfed.
Conclusions: CMV coinfection in mothers without advanced HIV disease from a CMV-immune population does not enhance the likelihood of congenital CMV infection. Perinatal CMV transmission from HIV-infected mothers may be decreased by avoiding breastfeeding. Further studies on mothers with late-stage HIV infection are needed.