Strategies for the detection and prevention of human cytomegalovirus from pregnancy to the neonatal period

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major cause of congenital infection worldwide. Maternal infection with HCMV during pregnancy may lead to adverse fetal outcomes and long-term sequelae of congenital infection. In this review, we summarized three specimen sources, their corresponding valid indicators, and mainstream detection methods. Prevention strategies administered based on the results of these tests aim to reduce the risks of maternal infection and maternal-fetal transmission and the development of complications following congenital infection through behavioral and hygiene-related interventions, vaccination, and hyperimmune globulin and antiviral agent administration. In this review, we presented a flowchart for full-process HCMV infection management, which covers three levels of prevention nodes, confirmatory tests at each level, and corresponding interventional approaches. Future efforts require support from the funding, institutional, and educational sectors to accelerate the development of sensitive and inexpensive methods for the rapid identification of potential biomarkers.