CHERI Study

Congenital and postnatal cytomegalovirus (cCMV, pCMV) affects 3% and 21% of term South African infants, and is likely to be higher in premature infants who have developing immune systems that may be unable to adequately control CMV.

In addition, HIV-exposure is recognised to result in immune-dysregulation and be associated with CMV infection. In these vulnerable infants cCMV can cause hearing loss and neurological deficits, and pCMV can be associated with pneumonia, multi-organ dysfunction and necrotising enterocolitis but not in all infants.

We aim to determine prevalence of cCMV and pCMV, and clinical/immunological risk factors for severe CMV disease in this population.

Elucidating risk factors for cCMV and pCMV-associated disease will enhance understanding of mechanisms of disease and indicate potential candidates for antiviral treatment of CMV.

Infants admitted to a tertiary neonatal unit in South Africa, aged <14 days and <1.5 kg birthweight are recruited with blood and saliva taken at enrolment, and thereafter weekly saliva and clinical data collected throughout their admission.

Clinical, hearing, and developmental outcomes are assessed at 3, 6 and 12-months follow-up to describe the long-term impact of cCMV and early pCMV in premature infants.