# PERINATAL INFECTIONS, IMMUNITY, AND MALDEVELOPMENT

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 1994 · $913,766

## Abstract

The purpose of this Program Project is to develop an understanding of the
epidemiology, natural history and pathogenesis of maternal and congenital
CMV infection that will serve as a foundation for efforts to prevent
congenital CMV infection.  cytomegalovirus is the leading infectious
cause of brain disease in children in the United States.  there are
approximately 40,000 cases of congenital CMV infection in the U.S. each
year; around 8,000 of these will develop some degree of CNS handicaps.
Sequelae of congenital CMV infection include sensorineural hearing loss,
cerebral palsy and mental retardation.  Planning an approach to
prevention of maternal gestational and fetal CMV infections has been
stymied by the discovery in the 1970's that maternal immunity did not
prevent transmission of virus to the fetus.  Project 1, Maternal CMV
Infection in Two Populations, will identify congenital CMV infections by
screening of newborns in two populations:  a University Hospital
obstetric service that is a predominantly black. low income population
and a private obstetric practice that is a predominantly white, middle
income group.  Results to date have shown that congenital CMV infection
is far more common in the low income group with a rate of 12/1000 births
compared with the rate of 4/1000 births in the middle income group.
Project 1 will also categorize type of maternal infection (primary vs
recurrent) through use of serologic tests on prenatal and preconceptional
sera, and in primary infections, define the gestational age at maternal
infection.  Project 2, Outcome of Congenital CMV Infection, is a follow-
up study of children with congenital CMV infection; it will determine
rates of sequelae in children in the various categories defined by
maternal infection and clarify the importance of silent congenital CMV
infection as a cause of mental retardation.  Project 3, Adolescent
Pregnancy and Congenital CMV Infection, is a cohort study in a teen
maternity clinic that has had an extraordinarily high rate of maternal
infection and congenital infection (7%) in babies.  This project will
identify risk factors for maternal infection and congenital infection in
babies.  It will also use restriction endonuclease analysis of CMV
strains to seek evidence of reinfection or reactivation of virus.
Project 4, Pathogenesis of Congenital HCMV Infections, is a study of the
pathogenesis of maternal and infant CMV infection that will examine the
role of antibody and lymphocyte responses to specific viral proteins in
preventing transmission or damage from infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2196739
- **Project number:** 5P01HD010699-17
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **SAM.gov UEI:** YND4PLMC9AN7
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert Floyd Pass
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $913,766
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1982-06-01 → 1998-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2196739

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2196739, PERINATAL INFECTIONS, IMMUNITY, AND MALDEVELOPMENT (5P01HD010699-17). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2196739. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*