infants who will, however, later develop hearing defects. CMV infections are frequent in individuals with deficient cellular immunity such as cancer patients or person with

 

congenital heart disease and other malformations which

may occur singularly or in combination. It is extremely

important therefore, to identify those women who are

not immune to rubella and to immunize them well before

they become pregnant. This can be achieved by screening

the serum for the presence of antibodies to Rubella and

a positive result is indicative of immunity. The ELISA has

been shown to be a sensitive and reliable procedure for

detection of antibodies to Rubella.

Cytomegalovirus Infection

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections are widespread

and approximately half of the adult population have

antibodies to CMV. The majority of CMV infections

are asymptomatic but CMV infections can cause

serious disease in the newborn infant and the

immunocompromised individual. About 2% of pregnant

women have either a primary or a reactivated CMV

infection during pregnancy and it is estimated that 10

to 20% of congenitally infected newborns will show

evidence of disease. Clinical symptoms may range from

severe disease with jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, and

central nervous system involvement, to asymptomatic

infants who will, however, later develop hearing defects.

CMV infections are frequent in individuals with deficient

cellular immunity such as cancer patients or person with

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or those receiving

immunosuppresive agents. The detection of antibodies

against CMV may be of value as an aid in the diagnosis

and in determining the immune status of the patient.

Various procedures such as complement fixation, indirect

hemagglutination, and indirect immunofluorescent assay

have been used to detect CMV antibody. More recently,

the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has

been developed and utilized for serological detection of

CMV.