ESE-CMV study

Education, Serology and Evaluation to prevent congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Summary

Slide1.png#asset:1689Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection occurs in about 1 in 200 babies worldwide, and is Australia’s leading infectious and preventable cause of disabilities such as deafness, developmental delay, and cerebral palsy. 

At Mercy Perinatal, we are partnering with consumers and health service collaborators to guide future recommendations for antenatal and newborn care.

What is CMV?

A 2 minute video on CMV

Education

  • We have developed a free online eLearning module for GPs on perinatal infections that focusses on educating women about hygiene precautions to reduce their risk of CMV infection. This has been accredited for CPD points with the RACGP. Our course evaluation showed that it significantly improved GP knowledge, confidence and intention to routine provide prevention advice about CMV - read all about it here!
  • This online course is accessible to any health care professional through Praxhub. Just create a free account and search for "Infections in Pregnancy" to get started! (BTW Our anonymous course feedback shows that 98% of GPs would recommend it to others!)
  • We have also developed a free online module for obstetricians and RANZCOG members with CPD points. Just log into the RANZCOG Acquire eLearning Hub!

CMV

Serology

  • We have completed a pilot study of serological screening for CMV infection in early pregnancy. This study was registered at the Australian Clinical Trials Registry  [Ref. ACTRN12623000710628p] and approved by the Mercy Health HREC. 
  • Pregnant women who have never had a CMV infection were offered a blood test at 12 weeks to screen for infection in early pregnancy. We asked these participants to answer three surveys at different time stages during their pregnancy journey.  
  • We found that CMV prevention education and repeat serology at the end of the first trimester was considered highly acceptable, feasible, and psychologically safe by pregnant women. These results support future implementation studies to incorporate CMV prevention strategies into practice.
  • The preliminary results are available here.

Evaluation

  • We evaluated GP perspectives on CMV screening through a national survey in 2025 and presented the results at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand in March 2026. We found that GPs were very supportive of broader CMV screening in pregnancy if it was recommended by health authorities. Watch this space for more news in 2026.
  • We have also completed an important study to understand the lived experience of women with a suspected cCMV during pregnancy. Through in-depth interviews, we identified ways that we can support pregnant people and their partners through an unexpected diagnosis of CMV. You can view the full results of our study here. 
  • We have co-developed information resources for families on CMV infection in pregnancy and Postnatal care for babies born with CMV that are publicly-available through the CMV Resource Hub at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance!
  • Did you know that 2-minute educational video for pregnant women can increase their knowledge about CMV and improve their adherence to recommended hygiene precautions? Read about the evaluation here and view the video here. 
  • If you want to learn more about the Australian research agenda in congenital CMV, please go to our webpage here - we are engaging with families with lived experience, clinicians, researchers and policy makers to identify our most important research priorities for the prevention and early childhood management of cCMV.

CMV research priority setting study


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Our collaborators

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Norman Beischer Medical Research Foundation and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.   

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Our publications

  • Marzan MB, Tripathi T, Dumville L, Watson J, Holmes N, Hui L. Modelling Maternal Cytomegalovirus Seroprevalence in Australia Using Maternal Country of Birth: Implications for Antenatal Screening. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2026 Jun;66(3):e70142. doi: 10.1111/ajo.70142. PMID: 42059681.
  • Hui L, Holmes NE, Giles ML, Rawlinson W. Cytomegalovirus in pregnancy: prevention, maternal screening, and the role of antivirals. Aust Prescr. 2026 Apr;49(2):61-67. doi: 10.18773/austprescr.2026.011. PMID: 42022261; PMCID: PMC13095495.
  • Rode N, Smithers-Sheedy H, Swinburn K, Tripathi T, Waight E, Hui L. 'Do You Tell Them Not to Kiss Their Child?' Implementing Congenital Cytomegalovirus Prevention Guidelines in General Practice: A Qualitative Study. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2026 Jun;66(3):e70141. doi: 10.1111/ajo.70141. PMID: 42047490; PMCID: PMC13123298.
  • Smithers-Sheedy H, Croker H, Adley A, Shand AW, Swinburn K, Tripathi T, Rode N, Hui L. The Right to Know About CMV-Perspectives of Pregnant Women and Families With Lived Experience of CMV. Rev Med Virol. 2026 Jan;36(1):e70096. doi: 10.1002/rmv.70096. PMID: 41508764.
  • Smithers-Sheedy H, Swinburn K, Rode N, Tripathi T, Holmes N, Waight E, Webb A, Britton PN, Stump H, Shand A, Hui L. Educating antenatal patients about cytomegalovirus infection: An e-learning package improves general practitioners' knowledge and intention to implement clinical guidelines. Aust J Gen Pract. 2025 Jun;54(6):407-412. doi: 10.31128/AJGP-11-24-7478. PMID: 40466734.
  • Tripathi T, Watson J, Smithers-Sheedy H, Swinburn K, Rode N, Waight E, Webb A, Holmes NE, Stump H, Shand A, Hui L. A 2-Min Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Awareness Video Improves Pregnant Women's Knowledge and Planned Adherence to Hygiene Precautions. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2025 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/ajo.70016. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40130738.
  • Chandrasekaran P, Lee HS, Hui L, Schleiss MR, Sung V. Prenatal and postnatal antiviral therapies for the prevention and treatment of congenital cytomegalovirus infections. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2024 Dec 1;37(6):494-505. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000001067. Epub 2024 Oct 3. PMID: 39417729.
  • Tripathi T, Watson J, Skrzypek H, Stump H, Lewis S, Hui L. "The anxiety coming up to every scan-It destroyed me": A qualitative study of the lived experience of cytomegalovirus infection during pregnancy. Prenat Diagn. 2024 May;44(5):623-634. doi: 10.1002/pd.6564. Epub 2024 Apr 5. PMID: 38578535.
  • Xie M, Tripathi T, Holmes NE, Hui L. Serological screening for cytomegalovirus during pregnancy: A systematic review of clinical practice guidelines and consensus statements. Prenat Diagn. 2023 Jun;43(7):959-967. doi: 10.1002/pd.6397. Epub 2023 Jun 17. PMID: 37309996.
  • Rudd IP, Marzan MB, Hui L. Cytomegalovirus serological screening at the first antenatal visit: A tertiary-centre audit of general practitioner practices and maternal seroprevalence. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2023 Jun;63(3):454-459. doi: 10.1111/ajo.13645. Epub 2023 Feb 1. PMID: 36722334.

Manuscripts under review

  • Tanya Tripathi, Jotara Watson, Natasha E Holmes, Jacqui McCoy, Hanako Stump, Lisa Hui. Implementation of antenatal cytomegalovirus prevention education and targeted first-trimester screening: feasibility, acceptability and psychological outcomes, Under review, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. May 2026, PREPRINT available at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3....
  • Katherine Swinburn, Lisa Hui, Sarah McIntyre, Philip N Britton, Pamela Rogers, Antonia Shand, Valerie Sung, William Rawlinson, Holly Teagle, Hayley Smithers-Sheedy. Identifying Research Priorities for the Prevention and Early Management of Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in Australia and New Zealand: A Modified Delphi Consensus Informed by Lived Experience; Under review, Medical Journal of Australia, 14 May 2026, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3....
  • Natalia Rode Ines Rio, Tanya Tripathi, Hayley Smithers-Sheedy, Kath Swinburn, Melvin Marzan, Lisa Hui. Australian general practitioners’ perspectives on antenatal congenital cytomegalovirus prevention and screening: a cross-sectional survey. Under review, Australian Journal of General Practice. May 2026. 

For further information about our research, contact our study team at ESE-CMV@unimelb.edu.au or contact the Mercy Health Human Research Ethics Committee at ethics@mercy.com.au.