Feasibility study: studying outcomes of congenital cytomegalovirus
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection: a feasibility study.
IRAS ID
280458
Contact name
Heather Bailey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCL
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
ANNB_NHSP_0050, Antenatal and Newborn Screening Programme Research Advisory Committee; Z6364106/2021/09/03 health research, UCL Data Protection Registration
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
What is this project about?
Around 1 in 200 children are thought to be born with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in England, with around 1 in 1000 likely to have lifelong disability caused by the infection. The most common problem is hearing loss, but this may not be apparent at birth. There are many unanswered questions about the consequences of congenital CMV infection for child health.Why do this project?
When babies with symptoms of CMV infection have treatment started within the first four weeks of life, this can reduce hearing loss. At the moment, babies are not routinely screened for CMV infection at birth, and so those without symptoms will not be routinely diagnosed, because it is not clear which in this group could benefit from treatment. Newborns without symptoms are much less likely to develop hearing problems later but some will, and there are other questions about possible consequences of the infection for child health and development. Better information is needed about the consequences of congenital CMV infection to inform decisions around neonatal screening and treatment.What will we do?
This project funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences aims to understand how we can best study congenital CMV and its consequences for babies who do not have symptoms at birth. As a first step, the information captured as part of routine care in the national newborn hearing screening programme database will be explored, to help us to understand how best it can be used in future research. The overall aim is to inform the design of a future study which will answer address questions about the consequences of congenital CMV infection for children, to inform testing and treatment.REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SW/0091
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion