Prophylactic intravenous immunoglobulin injections to mothers with primary cytomegalovirus infection.

The aim of this trial study was to assess the preventive efficacy of immunoglobulin with a high titer of anti-CMV antibody for mother-to-fetus cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission among pregnant women with primary/acute CMV infection. The primary CMV infection in mothers was diagnosed by a positive test for CMV IgM and/or low IgG avidity. Intact type immunoglobulin with a high titer of anti-CMV antibody was injected intravenously at a dosage of 2.5-5.0 g/day for consecutive 3 days to mothers with primary CMV infection. Four pregnant women were enrolled. One pregnancy ended in no congenital infection, while two pregnancies ended in congenital CMV infection. The other one pregnancy was terminated. The mother-to-fetus CMV transmission rate was found to be high as 66.7% (2/3). This preliminary result suggests that intravenous immunoglobulin injections are not effective for the prevention of mother-to-fetus CMV transmission in the present protocol.