A newborn screening program at Cleveland Clinic Children's identified 34 babies born with congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV, after expanding testing across Cleveland Clinic hospitals in Ohio, according to results published in Pediatrics. Detection rose about 2.5 times once the system began swabbing far more newborns in its nurseries and neonatal intensive care units. The health system announced the findings on Sept. 21.
The finding matters to families because CMV often hides. Many infected babies look healthy at birth, yet some go on to develop hearing loss or developmental delays. Citing the National Institutes of Health, Cleveland Clinic noted that more than 40% of children with CMV-related hearing loss pass their first newborn hearing screen.
