Gibson Laura

Keynote Lecture Abstract

cCMV immunology update

In the field of congenital CMV infection (cCMV), many efforts to understand the relationship between the virus and host have focused on CMV-specific immunity during pregnancy.  These studies in human and animal models have provided critical mechanistic insights into CMV infection and risk of fetal transmission, and have supported CMV vaccine development. However, analogous insights into the role of fetal, neonatal, and childhood immunity in cCMV disease severity and progression remain limited. This session will briefly summarize fetal and neonatal CMV-specific immunity in the context of normal immune ontogeny, and outline more recent advances that provide rationale for multi-center immunological studies of infants with congenital CMV infection.