NIH Radio
Saliva is effective in screening for CMV infection in newborns, says NIH-funded research
Brief Description:
Researchers have been trying to find a simple, effective way to screen newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, a leading cause of hearing loss in children. Although a 2010 JAMA study by the same authors concluded that the heel stick test was not effective, this study shows that a saliva test is.
Transcript:
Akinso: A mouth swab of saliva can be used to quickly and effectively screen newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus infection compared to the traditional procedure.
Watson: There are ways to test infants and adults to determine weather or not they have the cytomegalovirus or CMV.
Akinso: Dr. Bracie Watson is a program officer at the National Institutes of Health.
Watson: The way that it is normally tested for, it takes a lot of time it’s very expensive and it’s not a test that’s amenable to newborn screening.
Akinso: In a National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders study, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham were seeking to find the most effective test for CMV in newborns. To conduct the screening, researchers used a molecular diagnostic procedure called real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.
Watson: Polymerase chain reaction is a pretty common laboratory technique these days and it is a method of going in and amplifying DNA sequences in large numbers. It gives you enough of the DNA to be able to manipulate the DNA itself and to study it. So in this case there are certain parts of the CMV virus that are specific to the CMV virus itself. It will let you get a polymerase chain reaction product of DNA it will let you know whether or not the virus is present or absent.
Akinso: CMV is the most common infection passed from a mother to her newborn. Of the 20,000-30,000 infants who are born infected with CMV each year, about 10-15 percent are at risk for developing hearing loss. The study enrolled nearly 35,000 infants between June 2008 and November 2009. Dr. Watson explains why researchers decided to explore another approach when screening for CMV.
Watson: Our first paper came out last year, showed that using the dry blood spot and the polymerase chain reaction was likely missing a significant number of babies with CMV. So we went on to develop a different test using saliva rather than blood.
Akinso: The researchers are now looking to find out how much CMV infection contributes to overall hearing loss at birth and between ages of 3 ½ to 4 years old. For this reason, infants who tested positive for CMV in the study are being enrolled in a follow-up program to monitor their hearing every six months until they are four years of age. For more information on this study, visit www.nidcd.nih.gov. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 6/09/2011
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Bracie Watson
Topic: CMV, Congenital, Cytomegalovirus
Institute(s):
NIDCD
Additional Info: Saliva is effective in screening for CMV infection in newborns, says NIH-funded research
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