cCMV Awareness

• 50-60% of women are at risk of contracting CMV infection during pregnancy (CDC), however 91% of women are unaware of simple, effective prevention measures to mitigate this transmission risk.

• In 2017, Oregon passed HB2754 to provide parents with a cCMV educational pamphlet, including CMV risk reduction techniques, but it is provided to parents after birth, when it is too late.

• Our bill makes a simple change: sending the educational pamphlet to prenatal care providers to provide to expectant parents during an early prenatal appointment. Our bill also requires the pamphlet be provided to all licensed child care settings, where staff is known to be at an increased risk of contracting CMV during pregnancy.
  

cCMV Screening

Oregon has no standard protocol for cCMV screening. Many newborns are not tested, even when they have cCMV symptoms. These babies miss the window for cCMV testing, which must be done within 21 days of birth, and the option of CMV treatment which, if pursued, should start within the first month of life. They may also miss or face delays in accessing therapies to improve their long-term health outcomes.

Our bill implements a standardized, low-cost cCMV screening protocol for all Oregon hospitals and birthing centers. We propose an “expanded targeted” protocol that screens any newborn showing signs of cCMV at birth (e.g. hearing loss, microcephaly, etc).

What the experts say

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists along with CDC and OHA, recommend using simple cCMV risk reduction techniques during pregnancy.

The American Academy of Audiology and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery support newborn CMV screening.

In Oregon, OHSU and Kaiser have both implemented an expanded targeted screening protocol for newborns.