Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) frequently infects young children who attend group day care. Although congenitally infected children excrete CMV for extended periods, the natural history of CMV excretion among children who acquire CMV in day care is unknown. To determine the acquisition rates and duration of CMV excretion among such children, we sampled the urine and saliva of 65 children in a single day care center at 3 to 6 mo. intervals over a 2 yr period. During the study period, 23 children (35%) excreted CMV in urine and/or saliva. The duration of CMV excretion ranged from 4 to 24 mo., with a mean of 9.73 ± 1.47 (SE) mo. for urine (N=10) and 8.33 ± 0.87 mo. for saliva (N=8). Among children who were initially CMV negative the mean age at onset of CMV excretion was 26.8 mo. The mean duration of excretion for children who remained in the study until CMV excretion ceased was 11.48 mo. for urine and 10.88 mo. for saliva. Children who excreted CMV tended to enter day care at an earlier age (7.7 mo. for CMV excretors vs. 10.1 mo. for non-excretors) and spent more hrs per week in day care (43.6 hrs vs. 37.8 hrs). At the initial sample collection CMV-excreting children were younger than non-excretors (26.8 mo. vs. 35.0 mo.) (p=0.02). However, there was no correlation between age at which children began to excrete CMV and the duration of excretion in urine (r=0.075) or saliva (r=0.339). These results indicate that children in day care who acquire CMV excrete the virus for many months and are thus a substantial reservoir of infection for exposed adults.
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Murph, J., Bale, J. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CMV EXCRETION BY CHILDREN IN GROUP DAY CARE. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 330 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00979
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00979