Detection of cytomegalovirus in pregnant women of Lakki Marwat and Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common cause of both congenital and intrauterine infection in developing fetus and pregnant women respectively. Proper in-time diagnosis of CMV is the most effective way to control this disease. Lack of health care facilities and proper screening of pregnant women for various congenital infections in the Sothern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, making the situation more worst. Therefore, this preliminary study was set to assess the seroprevalence and molecular detection of CMV infection among pregnant women of districts Lakki Marwat and Bannu of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A total of 188 blood samples were randomly collected from pregnant women of both districts and were examined through Enzyme-Linked Immunosorrbent Assay (ELISA) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for CMV. Out of total 88 samples, 73.40% were positive for CMV through ELISA and 57.44% were positive for CMV through PCR respectively.