Current views on cytomegalovirus infection in preterm infants

Preterm infants (<32 weeks), who are unable to breastfeed, are fed with expressed maternal milk via a nasogastric tube. Mothers of these infants often experience difficulties in establishing and maintaining lactation. The majority of women excrete cytomegalovirus (CMV) in their breast milk. CMV transmitted through maternal milk could cause symptomatic infection in preterm infants presenting as a sepsis like syndrome, pneumonitis, hepatopathy or enterocolitis. Routine freezing of maternal milk decreases the CMV load in breast milk and is used in some neonatal centers to reduce CMV transmission to preterm infants. In the present review article, the existing routine procedures pertaining to breast milk use for preterm infants will be explained, and the current views on associated CMV infection in preterm infants will be discussed, including diagnostics and therapeutic strategies.