CYTOMEGALOVIRUS ANTIBODY DETECTION IN BLOOD-DONORS AND MOTHERS OF VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT NEONATES BY USING 3 SEROLOGIC METHODS

We compared three serologic methods for cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody detection and determined the CMV antibody seroprevalence of blood donors and mothers of very low birth weight (< 1250 g) neonates in the Greater Hartford region. CMV serology was determined for 577 healthy blood donors as well as for 147 mothers of premature infants. Plasma from blood donors and sera from mothers were tested by either latex agglutination (LA) or by an immunofluorescent antibody assay (IFA), and results were compared with those from an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Sensitivity and specificity for LA to ELISA were significantly better than for IFA to ELISA [sensitivity 79/81 (97%) vs 171/202 (85%), and specificity 90/94 (96%) vs 257/347 (74%), p < 0.01]. These differences remained whether plasma or sera were tested. Borderline values explained only two (33%) of six LA-ELISA as well as only 70 (58%) of 121 IFA-ELISA discordance. CMV sero-prevalence rate for the donor blood population was 38%, and for the mothers was 53%. The LA assay is superior to the IFA assay for CMV screening of blood donors and maternal populations.