ArticleBMC infectious diseases2020
Hygiene promotion might be better than serological screening to deal with Cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy: a methodological appraisal and decision analysis.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic literature review of the global seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus: possible implications for treatment, screening, and vaccine development.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Awareness and understanding of cytomegalovirus infection among polish pregnant women: A CASP-W cross-sectional study.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Targeted Screening with the Use of Clinical Risk Factors for Detecting Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in Newborns: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Review
- Exploring hygiene practices, prenatal recommendations and parental attitudes towards congenital cytomegalovirus prevention and screening in Sweden.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
- Awareness and knowledge of cytomegalovirus infection among pregnant women in French-speaking Switzerland.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Current evidence gaps to support systematic cytomegalovirus screening in pregnancy.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Review
- Exploring the implementation of an educational film within antenatal care to reduce the risk of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy: A qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy: cross-sectional survey of knowledge and prevention practices of healthcare professionals in French-speaking Switzerland.Virology journal · 2024Observational
- [Decision-making process and evaluation of public health interventions].Revue d'epidemiologie et de sante publique · 2023Article
- Review
- Screening for Vaginal and Endocervical Infections in the First Trimester of Pregnancy? A Study That Ignites an Old Debate.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCytomegalovirus infection is the most frequent viral congenital infection, with possible consequences such as deafness, or psychomotor retardation. In 2016, the French High Council of Public Health was mandated to update recommendations regarding prevention of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnant women. We summarize a critical appraisal of knowledge and deterministic decision analysis comparing the current no-screening situation to serological screening during pregnancy, and to hygiene promotion.
methodsScreening was defined as systematic serological testing, during the first trimester, with repeated tests as needed, to all pregnant women. Outcomes were: 1) severe sequela: intellectual deficiency with IQ ≤ 50 or hearing impairment < 70 dB or sight impairment (≤ 3/10 at best eye); 2) moderate sequela: any level of intellectual, hearing or sight deficiency; and 3) death or termination of pregnancy. We simulated the one-year course of cytomegalovirus infection in a cohort of 800,000 pregnant women. We developed a deterministic decision model, using best and min-max estimates, extracted from systematic reviews or original studies.
resultsRelevant data were scarce or imprecise. We estimated that 4352 maternal primary infections would result in 1741 foetal infections, and an unknown number of maternal reinfections would result in 1699 foetal infections. There would be 788 cytomegalovirus-related consequences, including 316 foetal deaths or terminations of pregnancy, and 424 moderate and 48 severe sequelae. Screening would result in a 1.66-fold increase of poor outcomes, mostly related to a 2.93-fold increase in deaths and terminations of pregnancy, not compensated by the decrease in severe symptomatic newborns. The promotion of hygiene would result in a 0.75-fold decrease of poor outcomes, related to both a decrease in severe sequelae among symptomatic newborns (RR = 0.75; min-max: 1.00-0.68), and in deaths and terminations of pregnancy (RR = 0.75; min-max: 0.97-0.68).
conclusionsPrevention of cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy should promote hygiene; serological screening should not be recommended.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.