Cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women - threats, diagnosis and treatment

Grunwald, Arkadiusz, Brzuszkiewicz, Kinga, Nowak, Katarzyna, Satora, Małgorzata, Klas, Jakub & Rudziński, Gracjan. Cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women - threats, diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2022;12(12):187-192. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.12.029 https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/40790 https://zenodo.org/record/7332778 The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343. Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences). Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159. Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu). © The Authors 2022; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 07.10.2022. Revised: 10.11.2022. Accepted: 18.11.2022. Cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women - threats, diagnosis and treatment Arkadiusz Grunwald Medical University of Lublin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9792-1118 Kinga Brzuszkiewicz Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3941-027X Katarzyna Nowak Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8289-1681 Małgorzata Satora Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6010-9732 Jakub Klas Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4795-1909 Gracjan Rudziński Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8911-9144 Abstract Cytomegalovirus is one of the most widespread DNA viruses, with 90% of women of childbearing age in Poland infected with it. Infection poses a risk to the mother as well as the fetus, as the virus can cross the placenta and damage the fetus. The purpose of this paper is to review scientific publications from 2017-2022, which describe the course of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women, the risks to the mother and fetus associated with the infection, methods of diagnosing the infection in the pregnant woman and the fetus, as well as treatment of cytomegalovirus infection and directions for vaccine research. The most common complications of congenital cytomegalovirus infection include hearing loss, mental developmental delays and miscarriage. The infection can be detected in the pregnant woman by immunological testing, while polymerase chain reaction is used in the fetus and newborn. Early detection of infection in a pregnant woman allows the implementation of treatment which includes ganciclovir, valganciclovir, acyclovir and valacyclovir. A vaccine against cytomegalovirus has not been developed. Particularly important in the prevention of infection is to conduct educational activities regarding the routes of transmission of the virus and the consequences of congenital infection for the fetus. Cytomegalovirus infections among pregnant women. It is important to monitor fetal development and possibly diagnose for congenital CMV infection in case of abnormalities, and the best diagnostic method is polymerase chain reaction testing. For the treatment of congenital CMV infection, acyclovir and valacyclovir are preferred, and therapy should be implemented for specific indications. Attention should be paid to educating women about infections caused by cytomegalovirus. Keywords: cytomegalovirus, congenital cytomegaly infection, pregnancy, diagnostics, treatmen