A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the prevalence of human cytomegalovirus shedding in seropositive pregnant women

The detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in an individual's bodily fluid by culture techniques or through HCMV DNA detection by polymerase chain reaction, is known as HCMV shedding. Human cytomegalovirus shedding has the potential to transmit HCMV infection, where an individual can become infected with HCMV through contact with the bodily fluid of another individual containing HCMV. Human cytomegalovirus shedding can occur in primary infection and in non-primary infection for individuals with prior infection (HCMV seropositive). Human cytomegalovirus infection causes few or no symptoms in a pregnant woman, but can cause significant harm to her foetus if congenital CMV (cCMV) infection occurs. The association between HCMV shedding in HCMV seropositive pregnant women and the vertical transmission of HCMV to result in cCMV infection is poorly investigated, challenged by a limited understanding of the distribution of HCMV shedding in HCMV seropositive pregnant women. We systematically reviewed the published literature to describe the prevalence of HCMV shedding in HCMV seropositive women during pregnancy up to delivery. This analysis identified nine studies that met our eligibility criteria. In these studies, the prevalence of HCMV shedding in any bodily fluid of HCMV seropositive women during pregnancy and at delivery ranged from 0% to 42.5%. A meta-analysis, performed on six of the nine studies with suitable sample sizes, estimated a pooled prevalence of 21.5% [95% CI 12.7%,30.3%]. To our knowledge, this is the first review to systematically search the literature to summarise the prevalence of HCMV shedding in HCMV seropositive pregnant women. These estimates can help in the development of disease burden models and therapeutic or preventative strategies against cCMV infection in the context of non-primary maternal HCMV infection.