Prof. Giuseppe Gerna E-mail: g. gerna@ smatteo. pv. it

© 2019 by EDIMES-Edizioni Internazionali Srl. All rights reserved is primary infection of a seronegative pregnant mother, where transmission of infection to the fetus occurs in about 40% of cases. This is the rate of transmission occurring in Western Europe, the USA and Australia, where about 50% of women of childbearing age are HCMV-seropositive, while in South America, Asia, and Africa nearly 100% are HCMV-seropositive (Cannon et al., 2010). Due to the direct correlation found between the rate of congenital HCMV infection (cCMV) and the rate of HCMV seropositivity, it has been estimated that of the approximate 30,000 cases of cCMV occurring annually in the US, three-quarters are due to non-primary maternal infections (Wang et al., 2011), while the proportion of cCMV infections due to non-primary infections in developing countries may be even higher (Yamamoto et al., 2010). The prevalence of cCMV infections in newborn infants ranges from 0.5%-0.7% in developed countries and from 1-2% in developing countries (Kenneson & Cannon, 2007). About 13% of newborns with cCMV are symptomatic at birth and present with overt clinical symptoms, such as intrauterine growth retardation, jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, purpura, microcephaly, seizures and chorioretinitis (Dollard et al., 2007). Permanent