BACKGROUND The treatment of symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease with intravenous ganciclovir for 6 weeks has been shown to improve audiologic outcomes at 6 months, but the benefits wane over time. METHODS We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of valganciclovir therapy in neonates with symptomatic congenital CMV disease, comparing 6 months of therapy with 6 weeks of therapy. The primary end point was the change in hearing in the better ear (“best-ear” hearing) from baseline to 6 months. Secondary end points included the change in hearing from baseline to follow-up at 12 and 24 months and neurodevelopmental outcomes, with each end point adjusted for central nervous system involvement at baseline. RESULTS A total of 96 neonates underwent randomization, of whom 86 had follow-up data at 6 months that could be evaluated. Best-ear hearing at 6 months was similar in the 6-month group and the 6-week group (2 and 3 participants, respectively, had improvement; 36 and 37 had no change; and 5 and 3 had worsening; P = 0.41). Total-ear hearing (hearing in one or both ears that could be evaluated) was more likely to be improved or to remain normal at 12 months in the 6-month group than in the 6-week group (73% vs. 57%, P = 0.01). The benefit in total-ear hearing was maintained at 24 months (77% vs. 64%, P = 0.04). At 24 months, the 6-month group, as compared with the 6-week group, had better neurodevelopmental scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition, on the language-composite component (P = 0.004) and on the receptive-communication scale (P = 0.003). Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred in 19% of the participants during the first 6 weeks. During the next 4.5 months of the study, grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occurred in 21% of the participants in the 6-month group and in 27% of those in the 6-week group (P = 0.64). CONCLUSIONS Treating symptomatic congenital CMV disease with valganciclovir for 6 months, as compared with 6 weeks, did not improve hearing in the short term but appeared to improve hearing and developmental outcomes modestly in the longer term. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00466817.)

BACKGROUND Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is an important cause of hearing loss, and most infants at risk for CMV-associated hearing loss are not identified early in life because of failure to test for the infection. The standard assay for newborn CMV screening is rapid culture performed on saliva specimens obtained at birth, but this assay cannot be automated. Two alternatives — real-time polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)–based testing of a liquid-saliva or dried-saliva specimen obtained at birth — have been developed. METHODS In our prospective, multicenter screening study of newborns, we compared real-time PCR assays of liquid-saliva and dried-saliva specimens with rapid culture of saliva specimens obtained at birth. RESULTS A total of 177 of 34,989 infants (0.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4 to 0.6) were positive for CMV, according to at least one of the three methods. Of 17,662 newborns screened with the use of the liquid-saliva PCR assay, 17,569 were negative for CMV, and the remaining 85 infants (0.5%; 95% CI, 0.4 to 0.6) had positive results on both culture and PCR assay. The sensitivity and specificity of the liquid-saliva PCR assay were 100% (95% CI, 95.8 to 100) and 99.9% (95% CI, 99.9 to 100), respectively, and the positive and negative predictive values were 91.4% (95% CI, 83.8 to 96.2) and 100% (95% CI, 99.9 to 100), respectively. Of 17,327 newborns screened by means of the dried-saliva PCR assay, 74 were positive for CMV, whereas 76 (0.4%; 95% CI, 0.3 to 0.5) were found to be CMV-positive on rapid culture. Sensitivity and specificity of the dried-saliva PCR assay were 97.4% (95% CI, 90.8 to 99.7) and 99.9% (95% CI, 99.9 to 100), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 90.2% (95% CI, 81.7 to 95.7) and 99.9% (95% CI, 99.9 to 100), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Real-time PCR assays of both liquid- and dried-saliva specimens showed high sensitivity and specificity for detecting CMV infection and should be considered potential screening tools for CMV in newborns. (Funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.)

Context Reliable methods to screen newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection are needed for identification of infants at increased risk for hearing loss. Since dried blood spots (DBS) are routinely collected for metabolic screening from all newborns in the United States, there has been interest in using DBS polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for newborn CMV screening. Objective To determine the diagnostic accuracy of DBS real-time PCR assays for newborn CMV screening Design, Setting, and Participants Between March 2007 and May 2008, infants born at seven medical centers in the U.S. were enrolled in the CMV and Hearing Multicenter Screening (CHIMES) study. Newborn saliva specimens were tested for the detection of early antigen fluorescent foci (DEAFF). Results of saliva DEAFF were compared with a single-primer (from 03/07 to 12/07) and a two-primer (from 01/08 to 05/08) DBS real-time PCR. Infants positive by screening DEAFF or PCR were enrolled in follow-up to confirm congenital infection by the reference standard method, DEAFF on saliva or urine. Main Outcome Measures Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) of single-primer and two-primer DBS real-time PCR assays for identifying infants with confirmed congenital CMV infection. Results Congenital CMV infection was confirmed in 92 of 20,448 (0.45%; 95% CI, 0.36–0.55) infants. Ninety-one of 92 infants were saliva DEAFF positive on screening. Of the 11,422 infants screened using the single-primer DBS PCR, 17 of 60 (28%) infants were positive with this assay, whereas, among the 9,026 infants screened using the two-primer DBS PCR, 11 of 32 (34%) infants were positive. The single-primer DBS PCR identified congenital CMV infection with a sensitivity of 28.3% (95% CI, 17.4–41.4%), specificity, 99.9% (95% CI, 99.9–100%), positive LR, 803.7 (95% CI, 278.7–2317.9), and negative LR, 0.7 (95% CI, 0.6–0.8). The positive and negative predictive values of the single-primer DBS PCR were 80.9% (95% CI, 58.1–94.5%) and 99.6% (95% CI, 99.5–99.7%), respectively. The two-primer DBS PCR assay identified infants with congenital CMV infection with a sensitivity of 34.4% (95% CI, 18.6–53.2%), specificity, 99.9% (95% CI, 99.9–100%), positive LR, 3088.9 (95% CI, 410.8–23226.7), and negative LR, 0.7 (95% CI, 0.5–0.8). The positive and negative predictive values of the two-primer DBS PCR were 91.7% (95% CI, 61.5–99.8%) and 99.8% (95% CI, 99.6–99.9%), respectively. Conclusions Among newborns, CMV testing with DBS real-time PCR compared with saliva rapid culture had low sensitivity, limiting its value as a screening test.

BACKGROUND Poor neurodevelopmental outcomes and recurrences of cutaneous lesions remain unacceptably frequent among survivors of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) disease. METHODS We enrolled neonates with HSV disease in two parallel, identical, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Neonates with central nervous system (CNS) involvement were enrolled in one study, and neonates with skin, eye, and mouth involvement only were enrolled in the other. After completing a regimen of 14 to 21 days of parenteral acyclovir, the infants were randomly assigned to immediate acyclovir suppression (300 mg per square meter of body-surface area per dose orally, three times daily for 6 months) or placebo. Cutaneous recurrences were treated with open-label episodic therapy. RESULTS A total of 74 neonates were enrolled — 45 with CNS involvement and 29 with skin, eye, and mouth disease. The Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (in which scores range from 50 to 150, with a mean of 100 and with higher scores indicating better neurodevelopmental outcomes) was assessed in 28 of the 45 infants with CNS involvement (62%) at 12 months of age. After adjustment for covariates, infants with CNS involvement who had been randomly assigned to acyclovir suppression had significantly higher mean Bayley mental-development scores at 12 months than did infants randomly assigned to placebo (88.24 vs. 68.12, P = 0.046). Overall, there was a trend toward more neutropenia in the acyclovir group than in the placebo group (P = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS Infants surviving neonatal HSV disease with CNS involvement had improved neurodevelopmental outcomes when they received suppressive therapy with oral acyclovir for 6 months. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; CASG 103 and CASG 104 ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00031460 and NCT00031447, respectively.)