Cytomegalovirus

ORLANDO — The novel antiviral agent letermovir appeared effective for primary cytomegalovirus prevention among haploidentical stem cell transplant recipients, according to results of a single-center chart review presented at TCT | Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings.

The novel Triplex vaccine induced immunity to cytomegalovirus, or CMV, and reduced rates of complications from the virus in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, according to results from a phase 2 randomized clinical trial published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

In very low-birth-weight infants, postnatal cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is associated with an increased risk for a failed hearing screen, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, increased postnatal age at discharge and decreased weight for length at discharge, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

WASHINGTON — Findings from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial presented at IDWeek sparked hope for the use of antiviral medications, specifically valacyclovir, for the prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV, infection.

According to research published in The Journal of Pediatrics, during a recent 17-year period, 4% of infants with necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, or spontaneous intestinal perforation, or SIP, in one NICU had intestinal infection with cytomegalovirus.

A dramatic increase in the rate of Merkel cell carcinoma has attracted new attention to this rare and aggressive skin cancer.

Twice-daily maribavir demonstrated similar efficacy as valganciclovir in clearing cytomegalovirus viremia in hematopoietic-cell or solid-organ transplant recipients, according to results from a phase 2 trial published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Increased long-term antibody response to cytomegalovirus and decreased response to Toxoplasma gondii were linked to bipolar disorder, according to findings published in JAMA Psychiatry.

The FDA has issued a class 1 recall — the most serious kind of recall — of Qiagen’s pipetting system filter tips. The recall affects 1,269,760 tips in 1,240 kits that are used to monitor antiviral treatment in patients with cytomegalovirus or to evaluate patients for myeloproliferative neoplasms.