Integrating congenital cytomegalovirus screening within a newborn hearing screening program: Is it worthwhile?

• Published in: International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology Vol. 142; p. 110594
• Main Authors: Beswick, Rachael, McHugh, Lauren, Clark, Julia E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01-03-2021
• Subjects: Congenital cytomegalovirus; Hearing loss; Screening; Congenital cytomegalovirus; Screening; Hearing loss
• ISSN: 0165-5876; 1872-8464
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.110594

The aim of the present study was to review the potential impacts and barriers to upscaling a pilot congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) screening program into a state-wide permanent universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) program.
This study reviewed the outcomes of the cCMV screening program pilot operating at three maternity hospitals to standard state-wide laboratory notifications in Queensland, Australia between August 2014 to April 2018. Stakeholder interviews were also conducted to inform state-wide program implementation.
Of the 485 infants tested for CMV on a saliva swab at the pilot sites, 4 (0.8%) returned a positive result. Review of the state-wide laboratory infant CMV PCR notifications for the same time-period revealed more than half of infants with cCMV (63.7%) would not have been detected under a state-wide targeted screening program as they either passed newborn hearing screening, were deceased, symptomatic, or were born <34 weeks gestational age. Barriers to state-wide program implementation included program-level factors (timing of the cCMV screen, funding, cross-agency communication, workforce and training) and community-level factors (low public cCMV awareness and prevalence).
Although cCMV screening alongside UNHS is achievable, a number of barriers need to be addressed prior to state-wide program implementation.