New tests for virus which can cause disabilities in babies

A virus that can cause disability in children is easily spread through kisses and sharing drinks, prompting a warning for new mums.

Christie Philipson with her daughter Marley, 1. Picture: Mark Stewart

It can be caught through a puckered kiss on the lips with your toddler, or sharing a drink with your child.

For healthy adults and children, cytomegalovirus virus is typically harmless.

But if a woman contracts it for the first time while pregnant, it can pass through the placenta to the unborn baby.

Congenital CMV is the most common viral cause of disability — including cerebral palsy, developmental delays, intellectual disability and vision loss — and is the most common non-genetic cause of hearing loss in newborns.

In a new $2 million project, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is developing and testing a new technology on 150,000 Victorian babies, with the aim of establishing Australia’s first newborn CMV screening test.

Their goal is to offer early treatment and prevent brain disability and deafness.

Lead researcher Valerie Sung said with universal CMV screening now offered internationally, her project also aimed to determine how common infection was in Australia and what should be done with infected but asymptomatic newborns.

“In developed countries it’s supposed to be about six per 1000 newborns who are affected, but it differs geographically and we don’t have data for Australia. Prevalence determines whether universal screening should happen,” Dr Sung said.

“We need to know whether offering treatment to babies who don’t have hearing loss or any other problems, will make a difference to their outcomes later on down the track.”

The MCRI team last year finished a proof-of-concept study, which involved testing saliva samples from almost 100 Victorian babies who failed a second newborn hearing test.

Dr Sung said the promising study, that is yet to be published, was readily received by parents and hospital staff.

But given there is only one laboratory in Victoria that can interpret the samples, this caused a delay in test results and prompted them to look for a new way.

Now the National Health and Medical Research Council has funded them to develop a version of the test based on a new type of gene editing technology, that can give instant results and analyse samples at one-fifth the price of standard viral testing.

“If a child is diagnosed with CMV then discussion about potential treatment needs to happen in the first month of life,” Dr Sung said.

“If we diagnose them early then we can monitor these babies more closely for hearing and developmental issues down the track.

Christy Philipson, who is expecting her second child this month, said despite pregnant women being advised to avoid the virus by kissing their children on the cheek or forehead, and avoiding sharing food or utensils, it was common for her to share drinks and cutlery one-year-old daughter.

Ms Philipson said she would not let potential risk change the way she interacted with her child, but she was open to a newborn screening test.