Seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus infection among sudanese women with Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL)

Background: Maternal cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy has critical outcomes. The basic data concerning CMV infections during pregnancy is important for health planners and care providers.
Methodology: A retrospective cross sectional hospital based study was conducted, 94 pregnant women with recurrent abortion were included in the study from Khartoum Teaching Hospital in the period from January 2012 to January 2013. The data were collected from the patient medical file. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used for detection of CMV antibodies (IgG and IgM) using commercial diagnostic kits for Quantitative analysis, the assay result interpreted as IU/ml
Results: Out of 94 participants tested for CMV antibodies, Mean age was 29.88 years, 3 (3.2 %) and 52 (55.3 %) of the study group had seropositive CMV IgM and IgG respectively. It was found that the age group of 20- 29 and 30- 39 has a significant correlation with frequency of abortion.
Conclusion: CMV prevalence was 55.3%. However, it is difficult to say whether the occurrence of high antibody titre preceded or followed the abortions. Routine screening for CMV should be introduced for pregnant women in this setting.