Cytomegalovirus infection among women with previous history of abortion in Dhamar City, Yemen: A retrospective study

Abstract

Background: CMV is an enveloped DNA virus from the Herpesviridae family. It is the most common cause of congenital infection. CMV is more widespread in developing countries and communities with lower socioeconomic status. Aim: The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of CMV infection among women with a history of previous abortion and to detect the relationship between CMV infection and abortion in women. Methods: The study was a retrospective study by getting required data from patient files (299 cases) of pregnant and non-pregnant women during the period from December (2017) to January (2019), in age groups (15 – 45) years attending health centers and hospitals in Dhamar City, Republic of Yemen. Results: The incidence of cytomegalovirus infection among women with previous history of abortion increased by 99.3 % of IgG and 3.7 % of IgM antibodies in the total study cases (299 cases). There was no statistical significance detected between IgG and IgM and abortion (P value > 0.05). Conclusion: The seroprevalence of CMV antibodies among women with previous history of abortion in Dhamar city is a high rate of CMV IgG and a low rate of CMV IgM. It may be the main factor causing abortion and the possibility that women were positive for CMV (IgM) antibodies at the time of pregnancy.