[Cytomegalovirus antibodies in the pregnant female and in the newborn infant complement fixation and indirect hemagglutination tests (author's transl)]

Abstract

705 paired sera from mother and infant have been studied at the time of the child birth for the presence of cytomegalovirus antibodies by complement-fixation and indirect hemagglutination tests. 51.3% of those sera were found to have CF antibodies, and 72.8% to have HA antibodies. The indirect hemagglutination test is a more sensitive reaction and detects also IgM antibodies. Chosen sera were fractionated and searched for IgM-HA antibodies to detect CMV congenital infections; only one child was found to be positive. The number of mothers having been in contact with cytomegalovirus was 82.7% (having CF or HA antibodies or both). Immigrant were found to be more often positive than native women (94.3% vs 76.1%); this difference was even greater when CF antibodies alone were considered (74.6% vs 37.7%). Depending on age groups of mothers, the increased number of positives found in CF test was not noticed in HA test.