Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital
infections in developed countries because is capable of infecting the fetus after both primary and recurrent maternal
infection, and because the virus may be spread for years through infected children. Moreover, CMV is the most serious congenital
infection associated with severe neurological and sensorineural sequelae, which can occur at birth or develop later on. Hygienic measures can prevent CMV transmission, which mainly involve contact with children under 3 years of age and attending a nursery or daycare. In animal and human pregnancies, many observational and controlled studies have shown that CMV-specific hyperimmune
globulin (HIG) is safe and can significantly decrease maternal-fetal transmission of CMV
infection and, mostly, the occurrence of CMV disease. Recently,
valaciclovir at the dosage of 8 g/day was also reported to be capable of decreasing the rates of congenital
infection and disease. However, comparing the results of our two recent case series, the infants born to women treated with HIG showed significantly lower rates of CMV
DNA positivity in urine (9.7% vs. 75.0%; p < 0.0001) and abnormalities after follow-up (0.0% vs. 41.7%; p < 0.0001). The implementation of CMV screening would enable primary prevention via hygiene counseling, improve the understanding and awareness of
congenital CMV infection, and increase the knowledge of the potential efficacy of preventive or therapeutic HIG or
antiviral administration.