AND OBJECTIVES: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common congenital infection and the leading nongenetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Despite expanding legislative screening requirements across the United States, there is no consensus guidance on the screening approach, resulting in wide variation in implementation....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Audiologists and pediatric hearing teams should be aware that universal congenital CMV screening is being implemented at scale; early identification enables antiviral treatment that may reduce hearing loss progression, and clinics should be prepared to coordinate with neonatology and infectious disease teams.
Scaled congenital CMV screening programs directly affect the pipeline of early-identified children with sensorineural hearing loss who will need audiological follow-up and management.
- 01Congenital CMV (cCMV) is the leading nongenetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss in children.
- 02A large hospital system implemented universal cCMV screening and documented the process.
- 03Early detection through screening enables timely antiviral intervention to limit hearing deterioration.
- 04Published in Pediatrics (2026), a high-impact peer-reviewed journal.
- 05Implementation details (protocols, barriers, outcomes) are reported, aiding replication.
Congenital CMV is the leading nongenetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss.
guidelinesupportedUniversal cCMV screening can be successfully implemented across a large hospital system.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42764176
- DOI
- 10.1542/peds.2026-076776.
- Journal
- Pediatrics
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Newborns in a large hospital system screened for congenital cytomegalovirus infection
- Intervention
- Implementation of universal congenital CMV (cCMV) screening program
Primary outcomes
Feasibility and outcomes of cCMV screening implementation; Identification rates of cCMV-positive newborns