A Fatal Case of Infant Congenital Cytomegalovirus and Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infections Type 1 and 2

Abstract

Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an essential and most frequent vertically transmitted infection from mother to fetus through the placenta. Neonatal Herpes simplex virus (HSV) enters a child by physical contact with its mother’s potentially infected vaginal secretions. There are many case reports where the newborn is infected with either CMV or HSV, but only one case of a 67-year-old Chinese male with the coinfection of CMV and herpes simplex virus type II (HSV-II) 11 was found. We report a rare case of newborns with congenital infection by CMV and herpes simplex who succumb to multiorgan failure.
 Case Report Presentation: 8 weeks male infant came in our hospital complaining of not feeding and not gaining weight, abdominal distension, diarrhea, and jaundice. As narrated by the mother, the baby was delivered vaginally at 36 weeks of gestation, and the birth weight was 1880 grams. Mother was not recommended blood test for TORCH (toxoplasmosis, rubella cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex, and HIV, syphilis) by her obstetricians. TORCHES profile was favorable in the baby. Newborns succumb to treatment and die due to multiple organ failure.
 Conclusion: Torch’s panel test is used to help diagnose infections that could harm the unborn baby during pregnancy and have fatal consequences after birth; therefore, it should be mandatory in each pregnancy.