What people know about congenital CMV: an analysis of a large heterogeneous population through a web-based survey

BMC Infectious Diseases

Research Article

Laura Bubba¹  Maria Barbi¹  Valeria Primache¹  Laura Pellegrinelli¹  Sandro Binda¹  Marco Terraneo²  Alessandra Caserini³ 

[1] Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Via C. Pascal 36-20133, Milan, Italy;Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy;Laboratory of Opinion Polls (LID), University of Milan, Milan, Italy;

关键词: Cytomegalovirus;    Awareness of congenital cytomegalovirus;    Web survey;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12879-016-1861-z

 received in 2016-04-19, accepted in 2016-09-21,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCongenital CMV (cCMV) infection is a serious public health issue due to both its worldwide prevalence and the severe and permanent impairments it causes. However, awareness of this infection is low in the general population and among pregnant women, and it also seems to be generally disregarded by healthcare providers. The identification of factors behind this inadequate level of knowledge could provide a basis for future preventive measures. This study aimed at evaluating awareness of CMV and cCMV infection and its correlation with socio-demographic variables in a general population.MethodsThe survey was carried out by computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). A questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the 70,975 individuals who comprised the whole population (students, administrative staff, teaching staff) of Milan University, Italy in 2015.ResultsOut of the 10,190 respondents, 5,351 (52.5 %) had already heard of CMV but only 3,216 (31.8 %) knew that this virus could be implicated in congenital infection. Urine and breastfeeding were the least recognized transmission routes for CMV infection; less than half of respondents accurately identified the right symptoms and sequelae caused by cCMV infection. The correct hygienic measures against cCMV infection were identified in percentages ranging from 55.6 to 75 % depending on the measures proposed but about one in three of interviewees deemed those measures unnecessary in the event of a pregnant woman already being CMV seropositive. From the mean knowledge scores the most complete quality of awareness of CMV turned out to be linked to childbearing-age (25–40 year) and with not having children, even if results for non-parents showed less of them having heard of cCMV than parents.ConclusionOur results indicate a limited and confused awareness of cCMV infection in a large, fairly young and well-educated Italian population.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016