Consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in early childhood

Abstract

This thesis describes the consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in Dutch children up to six years of age. The first chapter is a general introduction on this topic. The second chapter discusses the seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in the Netherlands. The third chapter describes the design of the CROCUS-study, which was used to investigate the long-term consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection. In chapter four the clinical consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection are discussed. Chapter five elaborates about the consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection on the child development and the quality of life of children and their parents. In the sixth chapter the cost of illness of congenital cytomegalovirus infection is calculated. The last chapter is a general discussion on the long-term consequences of congenital cytomegalovirus infection.