Seroprevalence of Human Cytomegalovirus Infection among Pregnant Women Attending Ante-Natal Clinic at Federal Teaching Hospital Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in pregnancy, especially in the first trimester often  lead to congenital abnormalities and is associated with serious complications, such as microcephaly, mental retardation, spastic paralysis, hepatosplenomegaly, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, deafness, and optic nerve atrophy leading to blindness in infants. These conditions are threats to accomplishing the sustainable developmental goal three (_To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages_) as there are not deliberate measures put in place to track and manage the virus in Ido-Ekiti and environs. This present study evaluated the seroprevalence of the virus among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria. METHOD: A total of one hundred and sixteen (116) pregnant women were examined in this study. The subjects were administered a structured questionnaire to obtain demographic and risk data. Five millimeters (5 ml) of blood samples were collected from consenting subjects to obtain sera which were analyzed for the presence of CMV IgG and IgM antibodies using Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Avidity testing was also carried out using ELISA. RESULTS: Results obtained from this study showed prevalence of 87.9% and 7.8% for IgG and IgM respectively. Samples that tested positive for both IgG and IgM were 6.0%. These samples were examined for avidity to evaluate strength of the IgG antibodies. Those with avidity index >35% were 28.6% showing IgG antibody predominance, while those with avidity index < or equal to 35% were 71.4% indicating that IgM was the predominant antibody. A significant (p0.05) difference between the prevalence of CMV IgG antibody across age ranges, number of pregnancies, miscarriages, marital status, trimester, still birth and transfusion. CONCLUSION: With the information provided in this study, there is need for the adoption of CMV screening into the antenatal profile tests, more public awareness of the virus to educate the general public especially women on how it is acquired and contributing factors like personal and community hygiene as preventive approaches to avert future consequences. _KEYWORDS: Cytomegalovirus, Immunoglobulin, Pregnancy, Prevalence, Women. _