According to a study published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, transmission of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) was reduced when female guinea pigs were vaccinated prior to and during pregnancy. The females also had fewer dead pups than unvaccinated females.

CMV is a common viral infection that is related to the herpes simplex viruses (which cause chickenpox and mononucleosis). The virus often causes no symptoms and lives in an infected person's body for life - rarely causing serious disease.

However, CMV is most dangerous when women become infected during pregnancy and pass the virus on to their unborn children. Children born with congenital CMV infection typically do not experience symptoms or health problems associated with the infection. However, 1 in 750 children born with CMV infection -or about 8,000 children a year - will have permanent disabilities as a result of this infection.

CMV infection also can cause stillbirth, premature birth or serious systemic problems (e.g., pneumonitis, bleeding, anemia, and liver damage) in newborns. Children born with CMV infection also may experience neurological problems (e.g., seizures, developmental defects of the brain).

According to the study's lead researcher, Dr. Mark Schleiss, 10 to 15 percent of babies with congenital CMV have mental retardation, cerebral palsy or hearing loss. He indicated that infection with the virus could cause developmental disabilities such as autism or attention deficit disorder.

"An effective CMV vaccine for women of childbearing age could greatly reduce the disability caused by the virus," Dr. Duane Alexander said in a press release. Alexander is director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a division of the National Institutes of Health.

In the guinea pig study, researchers administered a vector vaccine to the rodents. Unlike vaccines commonly given today (which contain whole killed viruses), vector vaccines are live viruses altered so that one gene from the CMV's DNA is injected into the guinea pig's cells. Those cells react by making proteins that trigger an immune system response to fight off the infection and build immunity against future infection with CMV.

The vaccinated guinea pigs produced 10 litters of offspring; 28 lived and four died - a 13 percent mortality rate. A control group received only a flu vaccine. They produced eight litters, including 9 live pups and 12 stillbirths - a 57 percent mortality rate.

Copyright 2007 iVillage Total Health.