PEDIATRICS Vol. 70 No. 5 November 1982, pp. 713-716
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yow, M. D.
Right arrow Articles by Plavidal, F. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yow, M. D.
Right arrow Articles by Plavidal, F. J.

Use of Restriction Enzymes to Investigate the Source of a Primary Cytomegalovirus Infection in a Pediatric Nurse

M. D. Yow MD1, A. D. Lakeman PhD1, S. Stagno MD1, R. B. Reynolds BS1, and F. J. Plavidal MD1

1 Departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology, The University of Alabama in Birmingham, School of Medicine, Birmingham, and Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston

The risk of transmission of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection from congenitally infected infants to nonimmune medical attendants is unknown. The case of a CMV-seronegative, pregnant nurse who seroconverted after caring for an infant with symptomatic CMV infection is reported. She elected to be aborted and the fetal tissue contained CMV. Isolates from the nurse, the fetal tissue, and the infant to whom the nurse was exposed were examined for genetic relatedness by restriction enzyme analysis. As expected, the isolates from the nurse and the fetal tissue were identical. However, the virus isolated from the symptomatic infant was different from the strain infecting the nurse. These data indicate that the nurse acquired her infection from a source other than the index infant, either within the hospital or within the community.

Submitted on October 23, 1981
Accepted on December 15, 1981