ArticleClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2026
Investigating the Role of Cytomegalovirus as a Cause of Stillbirths and Child Deaths in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Through Postmortem Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling.
Article in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Causes of Death Among Stillbirths and Children Aged <5 Years in Africa and South Asia - Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance, Seven Countries, 2016-2024.Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, D.C. : 2002) · 2026Article
- Article
- Maternal infection at delivery and risk of stillbirth and early neonatal death: nested case-control studies in East African pregnancy cohorts.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Hospitalizations for congenital infections in Brazil's unified health system: nationwide trends and regional disparities, 2008-2024.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Use of minimally invasive tissue sampling to determine the contribution of diarrheal diseases to under-five mortality and associated co-morbidities and co-infections in children with fatal diarrheal diseases in Africa and Bangladesh.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
37 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is paucity of information on the role of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection as a cause of stillbirths or childhood deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We investigated attribution of CMV disease in the causal pathway to stillbirths and deaths in children <5 years of age in 7 LMICs participating in the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network.
methodsWe analyzed stillbirths and decedents enrolled between December 2016 and July 2023. Deaths were investigated using postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling with histopathology and molecular diagnostic investigations of tissues and body fluids, along with review of clinical records. Multidisciplinary expert panels reviewed findings and reported on the causal pathway to death.
resultsCMV was detected in 19.5% (1140/5841) of all evaluated deaths, including 5.0% (111/2204), 6.2% (139/2229), 41.2% (107/260), 68.1% (323/474), and 68.2% (460/674) of stillbirths, neonates (deaths <28 days postnatal), early infants (28 to <90 days), late infants (90 to <365 days), and children (12 to <60 months), respectively. CMV disease was attributed in the causal pathway to death in 0.9% (20/2204) of stillbirths, 0.8% (17/2229) of neonates, 13.1% (34/260) of early infants, 9.7% (46/474) of late infants, and 3.3% (22/674) of children. Decedents with CMV disease, compared with those without CMV disease in the causal pathway, were more likely to have severe microcephaly (38.2% vs 21.1%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.2 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.3-3.6]) and to have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (36.9% vs 6.2%; aOR, 10.9 [95% CI, 6.5-18.5]).
conclusionsCMV disease is an important contributor to deaths during infancy and childhood and is often associated with severe microcephaly and HIV infection. Improving management of CMV in children with HIV and a vaccine to prevent CMV are needed interventions.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.