Prior exposure to common virus shields against birth defects, miscarriage

Researchers including one of Indianorigin have shown for the first time that mothers are much less likely to transmit a common virus known to cause miscarriages and birth defects if they are exposed to the virus prior to becoming pregnantThe study marks a significant step toward the development of a vaccine that could protect mothers and their babiesCytomegalovirus CMV is a common herpesvirus that most women contract unknowingly before reaching childbearing ageIts usually harmless except during pregnancy when if passed on to the developing foetus it is a leading cause of miscarriage and birth defects including cerebral palsy and hearing lossResearchers have long known that the risk for complications is particularly high for women infected by CMV for the first time during pregnancy but they havent fully understood why those who already carry the virus are less vulnerableThe team at Tulane University in Louisiana US revealed how preexisting immunity to CMV effectively limits its transmission during pregnancy and protects against associated birth defectsThe findings published in PLOS Pathogens pinpoints the specific immune mechanisms responsible for that protectionUnderstanding how preexisting immunity can protect against CMV transmission during pregnancy is crucial for developing an effective CMV vaccine that can safeguard all pregnant women and their unborn babies said Dr Amitinder Kaur principal investigator and professor of microbiology and immunologyFor the study the team used a nonhuman primate model that closely mirrors human CMV infection and transmissionThey observed that when pregnant mothers were initially infected with CMV during the first trimester all of them transmitted the virus to their offspring resulting in a high rate of miscarriageHowever when nonhuman primates previously infected with CMV were reinfected during their pregnancies their offspring were protectedThe robust immune response observed in mothers upon reinfection resulted in only one out of five mothers passing the virus through the placenta with no adverse health outcomes for any of the infantsThe findings show that if a mother already has CMV immunity before becoming pregnant her immune system can effectively protect her baby from congenital CMV transmission if she is reinfected during pregnancyThis research could have highly significant implications for the development of a CMV vaccine to prevent infections in pregnant women particularly in areas with a high prevalence of CMVThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever