MATERNAL AGE AND CONGENITAL CYTOMEGALOVIRUS-INFECTION - SCREENING OF 2 DIVERSE NEWBORN POPULATIONS, 1980-1990

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of congenital viral infecti on in the United States. To prevent damaging congenital CMV infections , it is necessary to have accurate population estimates of prevalence and to identify maternal factors associated with an elevated risk of c ongenital infection in the newborn. From 1980 through 1990, 17,163 off spring of predominately low-income nonwhite women who delivered at a p ublic hospital and 9892 newborns of predominately mid- to upper-income white women who delivered at a private hospital were screened for con genital CMV infection. Women <20 years old (adjusted prevalence odds r atio [POR], 4.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-8.9) at the public hospital and all nonwhite women (adjusted POR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.2) h ad an increased risk of delivering an infected newborn. Newborns of ad olescent women in both populations had the highest prevalence of clini cally apparent infection. Offspring of nonwhite low-income adolescents are at greatest risk for congenital CMV infection and more damaging s equelae.