Cytomegalovirus Infection in a Day-Care Center

Abstract

IN North America and Western Europe, up to 50 per cent of the population escapes cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during childhood and adolescence, whereas in some primitive cultures infection rates approach 100 per cent in early childhood.^{1 2 3 4} In industrialized nations, persons from lower socioeconomic backgrounds acquire CMV earlier in life.^{4 , 5} In populations in which breast-feeding is common and a high proportion of mothers are seropositive, human milk is an important source of CMV for infants less than one year of age.⁶ The specific practices that affect the frequency of CMV infections in young children after the first year of life have . . .