Michigan CMV Project: Increasing Awareness through Education and Screening

Michigan CMV Project: Increasing Awareness through Education and Screening

Despite the potentially serious effects on a developing infant, awareness of congenital CMV (cCMV) and prevention strategies are low among the general population but also among those who care for pregnant women. In Washtenaw County, Michigan, screening for and counseling about cCMV is not a routine part of prenatal care, nor is targeted screening of infants with hearing loss. The Michigan CMV Project will bring together healthcare professionals and community stakeholders across institutions to increase awareness, diagnosis and treatment of cCMV in the Ann Arbor community and beyond.

The Michigan CMV Project will target multiple populations with the end goals of prevention and detection of cCMV. First, this project seeks to target physicians who care for women and young children, specifically those in Obstetrics and Gynecology (University of Michigan and St. Joseph Mercy Health System), Pediatrics, and Otolaryngology. We will increase their knowledge about cCMV prevention and screening. At present, little to no prenatal counseling is given around cCMV and it is not included in the new patient obstetrical screening intakes. Second, we will target pregnant women not only through educating their healthcare providers but also through targeted education via fliers, and community symposia. Third, we will target neonates through a targeted screening program at the University of Michigan to test infants who fail their newborn hearing screens for cCMV. These three populations are nested within each other, meaning the impacts of intervention cascade downwards with healthcare providers impacting mothers and thereby their infants, and mothers impacting their infants.