​International CMV consensus report published in the Lancet

​International CMV consensus report published in the Lancet

A consensus report from the International Congenital Cytomegalovirus Recommendations Group was recently published in the UK medical journal, the Lancet. The report, entitled “Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy and the neonate: consensus recommendations for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy”, is the result of an international consensus meeting held in Brisbane, Australia at the 5th International Congenital Cytomegalovirus Conference. 

Meeting organizers convened experts in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics, virology, epidemiology, and others to discuss practice and policy issues related to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital CMV. National CMV Foundation co-founders, Janelle Greenlee and Sara Doutre, had the opportunity to participate in the consensus group and provided key insights regarding government and professional CMV policy and presented findings from a global CMV policy survey of over 20 countries. 

Two key consensus recommendations from the report address issues being explored by several state health departments and legislatures in the United States, including newborn screening for CMV and CMV education to at-risk patients and communities. 

From the consensus report summary:

• “Consideration must be given to universal neonatal screening for cytomegalovirus to facilitate early detection and intervention for sensorineural hearing loss and developmental delay, where appropriate.”
• “The group agreed that education and prevention strategies for mothers were beneficial, and that recommendations will need continual updating as further data become available.”

“Congenital CMV is now such a significant public health issue globally, affecting families in developed and developing countries, that we must advance into clinical practice some of what we have learnt from basic, clinical and policy research,” says meeting organizer, Dr. William Rawlinson, Senior Medical Virologist and Director of Virology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. “This is an important area of personal and public health that can benefit from enlightened policy and practice now. It lies with us to take this forward to the benefit of parents, children and the wider community.” 

To read the consensus report in its entirety, click here.