Seroprevalence, incidence of prenatal infections and reliability of maternal history of varicella zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus and parvovirus B19 infection in South‐Western Finland

Abstract

Objective To study seroprevalence and incidence and fetal transmission of varicella zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 and parvovirus B19 infections during pregnancy and to evaluate the reliability of maternal past history of VZV, HSV and parvovirus infections. Design Prospective study of parturient women.Setting South-Western Finland.Participants Five hundred and fifty-eight parturient women.Methods IgG and IgM antibodies against VZV, CMV, HSV-1 and -2, and parvovirus B19 were measured from maternal serum in the first trimester and at delivery and from cord serum, mother's own information of her past infections was compared with her serological status. Main outcome measures Seroprevalence, seroconversions and fetal transmission of VZV, CMV, HSV and parvovirus B19, reliability of maternal history of VZV, HSV and parvovirus B19. Results Seroprevalences were 96.2% for VZV, 56.3% for CMV, 54.3% for HSV, 46.8% for HSV-1, 9.3% for HSV-2 and 58.6% for parvovirus B19. Parity was associated with CMV seropositivity, maternal age differed only between HSV-2 seropositive and seronegative women, while area of residence (urban or rural) had no effect. Six seroconversions were observed: two VZV, one CMV and three parvovirus infections. No cases of primary HSV infections occurred. Fetal transmission was observed in two cases of parvovirus infection. No infants with anti-CMV IgM antibodies were born to CMV immunised women. False positive history of chickenpox was given only by 1.5% of the women, history of herpes infections was less reliable, and history of parvovirus infection was unreliable. Conclusions Seroprevalence and the risk of viral infections during pregnancy cannot be extrapolated from one pregnant population to another.

Parvovirus B19 infection in five European countries: seroepidemiology, force of infection and maternal risk of infection

“…While our estimates of seroprevalence in the age groups of child-bearing women are broadly similar to those found in other similar studies [10,13,[17][18][19], our estimates of risk of maternal infection are generally smaller than those observed in other studies [6,11,17]. This could be due to the fact that our cross-sectional estimates are based on an average previous exposure, whereas other study designs could be potentially biased by the epidemic nature of parvovirus B19 transmission.…”

Seroepidemiology of cytomegalovirus infections in Croatia

“…Place of residence was not found to be a risk factor for CMV seropositivity in Croatia which is consistent with results from Finland [36] and Turkey [13].…”

“…Studies on the prevalence of CMV in childbearing-aged, pregnant and parturient women showed seroprevalence rates of 42.3% in Germany [32], 49% in the United Kingdom [35], 56.3% in Finland [36], 57% in France [22], 62.4% in Poland [37] and 91.5%-97.3% in Turkey [24,38]. Regional differences in CMV seropositivity were observed in Norway (58.5%-72.1%) [23,39] and Belgium (30%-54%) [21,31].…”

Seroprevalence of Parvovirus B19 Antibodies in Young Women, Sanandaj, Iran

“…Because the congenital rubella infection is controlled by the vaccine, CMV and HPV B19 are the most important causes of clinically significant intrauterine viral infections (8).…”

“…The seroprevalence of HPV B19 seems to be variable worldwide. Several factors are known to influence seroprevalence including age, geography, climate, socio-economic status, occupation, race, parity, and working among children (8). In Iran, primary parvovirus B19 infection occurs during childhood and prevalence is higher in women than men (9).…”