Seropositivity of cytomegalovirus, parvovirus and rubella in pregnant women and recurrent aborters in Leningrad County, Russia

Abstract

Background. The objectives of this paper were to assess the prevalence of different viral infections in relation to late abortions, stillbirths, and congenital malformations in sera from Russian pregnant women and recurrent aborters in order to establish basic knowledge for future pregnancy care. Methods. Patients were recruited at the Women's Clinic, Leningrad Regional Hospital during the period March-June 1995. One group of normally pregnant women (Group 1; nΩ182) and one group of recurrent aborters (Group 2; nΩ127) were evaluated, including demographic, medical, clinical, and serological data. Results and conclusions. The mean age of the two groups was 27.1 and 28.2 years, respectively. The mean number of deliveries was low (0.4 and 0.5, respectively). Thirty-one point six percent of Group 1 and 41.9% of Group 2 were daily smokers. The group of normally pregnant women had a significantly increased frequency of induced abortions compared to the recurrent aborters, while the recurrent aborters reported more genital infections. There was little difference in total antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV) (78.0% and 81.1%, respectively) or B19 IgG (75.3% and 66.9%, respectively) between the groups, while the normal pregnant women had a significantly higher prevalence of rubella antibodies (77.5% and 59.8%, respectively). Our results indicate that less women remain susceptible to primary CMV infection in pregnancy in Russia compared to western Europe and North America. The prevalence of B19 IgG was slightly lower than data from Sweden. Natural immunization against rubella virus was lower than in other, unvaccinated female populations. Vaccination strategies for rubella are now initiated in the Russian Federation. Results from this study are utilized in a federally supported, comprehensive pregnancy care project of North-West Russia.

Seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 in the German population

“…All three values are without significant differences and indicate that 27·6–28·9% of pregnant women are susceptible. A recently published study determined a similar seroprevalence of 69·2% in women (17–45 years) in FWG [9] which is related to those reported from other European countries: studies in The Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland reported on slightly lower rates of 70%, 65–66% and 58·6% [27–30], whereas higher seroprevalences of 75·3% and 81·0% were found in Russia and Sweden, respectively [31, 32].…”

Infectious immune status in an obstetric population of Pakistani immigrants in Norway

“…All Pakistani immigrant women had IgG antibodies against CMV compared to 70% of the Norwegian pregnant population [16]. Our results indicate that routine CMV antibody testing in pregnancy should not be included in the antenatal infectious panel [17]. CMV is a difficult disease to prevent.…”

Maternal antibodies against cytomegalovirus in pregnancy and the risk of fetal death and low birth weight

“…To our knowledge, there are few studies on CMV infection and early fetal loss and they suffer from a small sample size (16,17). In a recent study, including a total of 209 women, there was no association between presence of CMV IgG and recurrent spontaneous abortions (26).…”