Transient Decrease in Incidence Rate of Maternal Primary Cytomegalovirus Infection during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

• Published in: Viruses 2023-04, Vol.15 (5), p.1096
• Main Authors: Toriyabe, Kuniaki, Kitamura, Asa, Hagimoto-Akasaka, Miki, Ikejiri, Makoto, Suga, Shigeru, Kondo, Eiji, Kihira, Masamichi, Morikawa, Fumihiro, Ikeda, Tomoaki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies, Viral; Case-Control Studies; CMV screening; congenital cytomegalovirus infection; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Cytomegalovirus; Cytomegalovirus infections; Cytomegalovirus Infections - diagnosis; Cytomegalovirus Infections - epidemiology; Cytomegalovirus Infections - prevention & control; Epidemics; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Hygiene; Immunoglobulin G; Incidence; Influence; Japan - epidemiology; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Pandemics; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - diagnosis; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - epidemiology; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - prevention & control; Pregnant women; primary cytomegalovirus infection; Seroconversion; Serology; Statistics; Womens health
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v15051096

This study evaluated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the occurrence of maternal primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in Japan. We performed a nested case-control study using data from maternal CMV antibody screening under the Cytomegalovirus in Mother and infant-engaged Virus serology (CMieV) program in Mie, Japan. Pregnant women with negative IgG antibodies at ≤20 weeks of gestation who were retested at ≥28 weeks were enrolled. The study period was divided into 2015-2019 as the pre-pandemic and 2020-2022 as the pandemic period, and the study site included 26 institutions conducting the CMieV program. The incidence rate of maternal IgG seroconversion was compared between the pre-pandemic (7008 women enrolled) and pandemic (2020, 1283 women enrolled; 2021, 1100 women; and 2022, 398 women) periods. Sixty-one women in the pre-pandemic period and five, four, and five women during 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively, showed IgG seroconversion. The incidence rates in 2020 and 2021 were lower ( < 0.05) than that in the pre-pandemic period. Our data suggest a transient decrease in the incidence of maternal primary CMV infection in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could be due to prevention and hygiene measures taken at the population level.