Pre-natal test can diagnose herpes virus dangerous to unborn children

The NIPT can also test for a herpes virus that can be dangerous to the fetus. Pregnant women can already get this pre-natal blood test in the first trimester to test for indications of Down, Edwards, and Patau syndrome in their unborn child. Now that new studies are indicating that treatment can prevent the cytomegalovirus (CMV) from transferring from mother to child, researcher Brigitte Faas of Radboudumc thinks CMV could be added to the NIPT screening.

Almost everyone gets CMV at some point in their lives. The virus is relatively harmless for healthy people, but it can be very dangerous for unborn children in the first trimester of pregnancy. “The fetus still has to fully develop, and this virus can seriously disrupt that development,” Faas of the university medical center in Nijmegen said.

Every year, about 1,000 children are born who become infected with CMV during pregnancy. About 180 children suffer lasting consequences - equivalent to the number of children born with Down syndrome every year. The most common consequence of a CMV infection is hearing loss or deafness. The virus can also cause developmental delays, growth delays, overactive muscles, or, in the most severe cases, death.

CMV is not yet included in the NIPT because, until recently, no treatment was thought possible. However, new research indicates that antiviral drugs can prevent the virus from being transmitted from the mother to the fetus.

Faas stressed that her research isn’t enough to immediately start screening for CMV with the NIPT. Follow-up research is required. “We would like to set up a large-scale national study in which we immediately include the effect of antiviral drugs,” she said. The study should also look at how to reach the women who do not get the NIPT.