The use of saliva as a practical and feasible alternative to urine in large-scale screening for congenital cytomegalovirus infection increases inclusion and detection rates

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 206 - 207
• Main Authors: Cardoso, Emanuelle Santos de Carvalho, Jesus, Bruna Laís Santos de, Gomes, Luciano Gama da Silva, Sousa, Sandra Mara Bispo, Gadelha, Sandra Rocha, Marin, Lauro Juliano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil 01-03-2015
• Subjects: Cytomegalovirus - genetics; Cytomegalovirus - isolation & purification; Cytomegalovirus Infections - congenital; Cytomegalovirus Infections - diagnosis; DNA, Viral - analysis; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Neonatal Screening - methods; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Reproducibility of Results; Saliva - virology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Urine - virology
• ISSN: 1678-9849
• DOI: 10.1590/0037-8682-0200-2014

Although urine is considered the gold-standard material for the detection of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, it can be difficult to obtain in newborns. The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of detection of congenital CMV infection in saliva and urine samples.
One thousand newborns were included in the study. Congenital cytomegalovirus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Saliva samples were obtained from all the newborns, whereas urine collection was successful in only 333 cases. There was no statistically significant difference between the use of saliva alone or saliva and urine collected simultaneously for the detection of CMV infection.
Saliva samples can be used in large-scale neonatal screening for CMV infection.