The clinical significance of determining viral load and genotype in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection

The article presents the results of genotyping and determination of viral load in newborns with various forms of congenital cytomegalovirus infection. A retrospective analysis of clinical manifestations and results of laboratory examination of 50 children with congenital CMVI was carried out. The regions UL55, UL73, UL75 of glycoproteins B, N, H of CMV isolated from children with congenital CMVI were sequenced. The analysis showed the absence of a reliable association of viral load with the severity of the disease: in children with a mild course, the replicative activity of the virus was 9 times higher than in children with a moderate form of congenital CMVI (p = 0.011). Sequencing of the nucleotide sequences of the UL55 (gB) gene revealed 5 genotypes with a predominance of gB7 (60.0%). In the region of the UL73 gene, 6 genotypes were identified (gN1, gN2, gN3a, gN3b, gN4b, gN4c), gN4c was dominant (33.3%). 2 genotypes were found in the UL75 region: gH1 and gH2 (50.0%). When comparing the results of genotyping and clinical manifestations of the disease, a significant predominance of gB7 and gH2 genotypes (p = 0.049 and p = 0.027, respectively) was found in central nervous system pathology, including the development of meningoencephalitis.