BACKGROUND: The best approach to reduce congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMVi) is to practice behaviors that reduce cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission during pregnancy. Expanding awareness and knowledge of CMV is expected to result in increased practice of preventative behaviors. To this end, it is necessary to understand current awareness and knowledge of CMV. METHODS: This web-based cross-sectional survey assessed the awareness and knowledge of cCMVi among pregnant women and the general public in Japan. Participants aged 20-45 years (pregnant and non-pregnant women, and men) were identified from a consumer panel. Study outcomes (all participants) included awareness of cCMVi and other congenital conditions. Among those aware of cCMVi, outcomes included knowledge of CMV transmission routes, long-term outcomes of cCMVi, and behaviors to prevent CMV transmission during pregnancy. Outcomes limited to pregnant women included the practice of preventative behaviors and opinion on how easy it is to implement these behaviors. The data of the pregnant group (pregnant at the time of the survey) were compared with those of the general group (non-pregnant women and men). RESULTS: There were 535 participants in the pregnant group and 571 in the general group. Awareness of cCMVi was generally low (pregnant, 16.1%; general, 10.2%). Pregnant participants were significantly more aware of most congenital conditions than those in the general group, including cCMVi (P = 0.004). Knowledge about CMV/cCMVi was limited; there were no significant differences between the two groups for 24 of the 26 knowledge questions. A small proportion (one third or less) of pregnant women practiced behaviors to prevent the transmission of CMV, though most (73.3-95.3%) pregnant women who were aware of cCMVi considered such behaviors easy to implement. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness and knowledge of CMV/cCMVi is low among pregnant women in Japan; the level of knowledge is similar to that among the general public. This needs to be improved. Most pregnant women considered behaviors to prevent CMV transmission easy to perform, which indicates that effectively educating pregnant women regarding the long-term outcomes of cCMVi, CMV transmission routes, and preventative behaviors will contribute to a reduced incidence of cCMVi. TRIAL REGISTRATION UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000041260 .
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/prevention & control* ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Internet ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women

OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of congenital cytomegalovirus infection on the hearing ability in infants.

METHODSBy using the tools of distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) and auditory brain-stem response (ABR), the hearing ability of 38 infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection and 16 cases of normal controls during neonatal periods was screened with a follow-up study at 6 and 24 months.

RESULTIn infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection, 86.8% (66/76) ears at neonatal stage and 76.3% (58/76) ears at 6 months passed the tests; while in normal controls, 96.9% (31/32) ears passed the tests. The reaction threshold of ABR V in infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection was higher than that in normal controls (P<0.005). Furthermore,in infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection, 13 ears (17.1%) were extreme hearing loss, 5 ears (6.6%) were severe hearing loss, and 6 ears (7.9%) were moderately severe hearing loss. The incidence of hearing loss during the follow-up was 7.9% (3/38) at neonatal stage, 23.7% (9/38) at 3-4 months, and 7.9% (3/38) after 6 months.

CONCLUSIONThe congenital cytomegalovirus infection could cause the prompt and late-onset hearing loss. The combination of the laboratory evidence with the dynamic hearing screening may contribute to the early detection of hearing loss in infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

China ; epidemiology ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; complications ; congenital ; physiopathology ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hearing Loss, Bilateral ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Neonatal Screening ; Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous

PURPOSE: Extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWIs) have a high risk of acquiring cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection via breast milk and consequently developing serious symptoms. We evaluated whether freeze-thawing or pasteurization could prevent postnatal CMV infection transmitted through breast milk in ELBWIs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of 385 ELBWIs with whole milk feeding, and freeze-thawed or pasteurized breast milk feeding were reviewed retrospectively. Postnatally acquired CMV infection was defined as an initial negative and a subsequent positive on follow-up urine CMV DNA polymerase chain reaction screening tests. The incidence, clinical characteristics, symptoms, sequelae, and long-term outcome at corrected age [(CA): 2 years of CMV infection] were analyzed. RESULTS: While no infant developed CMV infection with whole milk (0/22) or pasteurized breast milk (0/62) feeding, postnatal CMV infection was diagnosed in 8% (27/301) of ELBWIs who were fed freeze-thawed breast milk. Gestational age in the CMV group was significantly lower than the control group. In 82% (22/27) of cases, CMV infection was symptomatic and was associated with increased ventilator days and > or =moderate bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Neurodevelopmental outcome and growth status at CA 2 years were not different between the study groups. Lower gestational age and freeze-thawed breast milk feeding >60% of total oral intake during the first 8 postnatal weeks were independent risk factors for acquiring postnatal CMV infection. BPD (> or =moderate) was the only significant adverse outcome associated with this CMV infection. CONCLUSION: Pasteurization but not freeze-thawing of breast milk eradicated the postnatal acquisition of CMV infection through breast milk.
Adult ; Breast Feeding ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; Cytomegalovirus/*isolation & purification ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/epidemiology/prevention & control/*transmission ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; *Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/*prevention & control ; Male ; Milk, Human/chemistry/*virology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/diagnosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo observe the conditioning regimen, efficacy and side effects of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).

METHODFrom 2010 to 2012, a total of 11 cases after allo-HSCT were evaluated including 8 cases with familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL) and 3 cases with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) related HLH. Allo-HSCT from HLA haploidentical HSCT was performed for 3 cases and unrelated allo-HSCT for 8 cases; 7 cases underwent allo-HSCT with conditioning regimen of etoposide (VP16), busulphan (Bu), fludarabine (Flu) and antilymphocyte globulin (ATG) and 4 cases with Flu, melphalan (Mel) and ATG. Cyclosporine (CsA) or tacrolimus, mycophenolate (MMF) and methorexate (MTX) were used for prevention of graft versus host disease (GVHD). Four cases received anti-CD25 MoAbs, 7 cases received cord blood and 1 of them received haploidentical bone marrow to prevent GVHD.

RESULTThree cases died after allo-HSCT. The median overall survival time of the 8 cases evaluated was 585 days (154-1 115 d). All the patients were successfully engrafted. Acute GVHD (aGVHD) occurred in 8 cases, including 3 cases of gradeI/II and 5 cases of grade III/IV. Chronic GVHD (cGVHD) occurred in 4 cases. Seven cases had cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation.

CONCLUSIONThe allo-HSCT was successful in treating primary and refractory hemophagocytic syndrome.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cyclosporine ; administration & dosage ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; mortality ; therapy ; Male ; Survival Rate ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation Conditioning ; methods ; Treatment Outcome

Non-myeloablative allogeneic peripheral stem cell transplantation (NST) is a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with hematologic malignancies. Whether non-myeloablative transplants are associated with increased risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections is unknown. To clarify this issue, we compared the outcome of CMV infection following 24 allogeneic non-myeloablative peripheral blood stem cell transplants and 40 conventional bone marrow transplants (CBT). The NST regimen consisted of busulfan (4mg/kg/day), fludarabine (30mg/m2) and anti-thymocyte globulin (10mg/kg). Twelve patients (50%) in the NST group and 17 (43%) in the CBT group developed positive antigenemia before day 100 (p=0.60). The time to the first appearance of positive antigenemia was not different between these two groups (p=0.40), and two groups showed similar initial and maximal antigenemia values (p=0.56 and p=0.68, respectively). Only one case of CMV colitis developed in the CBT group whereas CMV disease did not develop in the NST group. Although statistically insignificant, the treatment response against CMV antigenemia using ganciclovir was in favor of NST group. In conclusion, there was no difference in the risk of CMV infection between NST group and CBT group. Further prospective and controlled study is needed to clarify the impact of non-myeloablative procedure on the outcome of CMV infection.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Antigens, Viral/blood ; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow Transplantation/*adverse effects/statistics & numerical data ; Comparative Study ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/*epidemiology/prevention & control ; Female ; Ganciclovir/therapeutic use ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/*adverse effects/statistics & numerical data ; Human ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVEHemorrhagic cystitis (HC) is one of the common complications of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), which causes significant pain, prolongs hospitalization, and occasionally results in renal failure and death. This study aimed at investigating the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of HC in children post umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT).

METHODSFrom October 1998 to June the clinical records of 53 pediatric patients (aged 2-18 years with median age of 7.5 years) in our HCST center who underwent UCBT (n = 37) and PBSCT (n = 16) were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty out of 53 patients were diagnosed as hereditary hemolytic anemia (56.6%), and the others as haematological malignancies (43.4%): of whom 8 had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 12 acute myeloid leukemia, 2 chronic myeloid leukemia and 1 non-hodgkin lymphoma. Conditioning regimen varied according to disease and clinical status, however based on cyclophosphamide (CTX, 120-200 mg/kg) and busulphan (BU, 12-16 mg/kg) in the cohort. Total body irradiation (TBI) or total lymphoid irradiation was added in 7 patients respectively. The patients were divided into regular treatment group (RTG) with 15 cases who received hyperhydration, alkalinizing, diuresis and Mesna during CTX infusion and prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) group (PEG) with 38 cases who received hyperhydration, alkalinizing, diuresis and Mesna plus prostaglandin E1 (0.03 microg/kg.h). The risk factors of HC were examined by univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTSIn all, 11 of the 53 transplanted patients developed HC (21%) with a median onset time of day +15 (rage day +2 - +25). HC was classified as early in 4 (36%) and late in 7 (64%), and scored as grade Iin 2 cases (18%), grade II in 4 (36%) and grade III in 5 (46%). There was no significant difference between RTG and PEG in the incidence of HC, however, the incidence was much higher in the group of patients who were > or = 6 years old, positive group of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and group of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection than that in the group of patients who were < 6 years of age (32% vs. 8%, P < 0.05), negative group of GVHD (35% vs. 7%, P < 0.05) and CMV non-infected group (62% vs. 13%, P < 0.05), respectively. Furthermore, by multivariate analysis, > or = 6 years old (OR = 3.53, P < 0.05) and CMV infection (OR = 4.31, P < 0.05) were significant risk factors for HC. Three of 11 patients were treated with bladder irrigation. All patients recovered from HC in a median 12.8 days (range 2-53 days).

CONCLUSIONOlder age (> or = 6 years) as well as CMV infection were the risk factors of HC. Both hyperhydration and Mesna were effective in preventing HC, while addition of PGE1 could not reduce the incidence of HC. The prognosis of HC in children post HSCT was satisfactory.

Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Anemia, Hemolytic, Congenital ; metabolism ; therapy ; Body Water ; metabolism ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cystitis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; complications ; physiopathology ; Female ; Fluid Therapy ; methods ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; therapy ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Mesna ; therapeutic use ; Multivariate Analysis ; Protective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome