Overview

The HearS-cCMV project team worked with the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program (VIHSP) to provide additional services to Victorian families. This project involved an extra test for babies who do not pass their second hearing screen who are born at selected Victorian hospitals:

• The Royal Women’s Hospital, Parkville
• The Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg
• The Monash Medical Centre, Clayton
• Sunshine Hospital, Western Health, Sunshine

Video instructions for taking a saliva swab

This extra test uses a sample of the baby’s mouth saliva (spit) to see if there was a virus (germ) called cytomegalovirus (CMV) present at the time of their birth. If the virus is present from birth, it is called congenital CMV. For some babies, congenital CMV can cause lifelong hearing loss. 

For some of these babies, there may be a treatment available if the doctors know this virus is present early enough. Therefore, it is very important to know as soon as possible if this virus is there.

This saliva test is not routinely offered early enough for an accurate diagnosis to be made. This project ensures your baby is given a chance to receive this simple test, and will help to gather information about how this can best be done. This will help us work out the best way of offering CMV testing across the whole state to babies who do not pass their second hearing screening. 

More information

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and pregnancy fact sheet - NSW Health
• CMV Australia - What is CMV?
• Feasibility and acceptability of targeted salivary cytomegalovirus screening through universal newborn hearing screening - Wiley Online Library
• Targeted screening for congenital cytomegalovirus: A micro-costing analysis - Wiley Online Library
• A-Z on Hearing loss
  
  

Contact us

HearS-cCMV Project
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
The Royal Children's Hospital
50 Flemington Road
Parkville VIC 3052
Australia

Phone: show phone number
Email:  show email address

Information for participants

Resources for HearS-cCMV families

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and pregnancy fact sheet - NSW Health
• CMV Australia
• Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program - Royal Children's Hospital
• Saliva Collection Instructions459.11 KB

Parent/Guardian Information Statement and Consent Forms

• PICF - The Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville829.52 KB
• PICF - The Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg814.33 KB
• PICF - The Monash Medical Centre, Clayton863.13 KB
• PICF - Sunshine Hospital, Western Health, Sunshine863.48 KB

Research team

The HearS-cCMV team comprised several researchers, hearing specialists and doctors across several organisations:

The Melbourne Children’s Campus

• Associate Professor Valerie Sung
• Professor Cheryl Jones
• Ms Emma Webb
• Dr Zeffie Poulakis
• Dr Melinda Barker
• Professor David Burgner
• Associate Professor Amanda Gwee
• Professor Andrew Daley
• Dr Linny Phuong
• Associate Professor Susan Donath
• Dr Kim Dalziel
• Dr Li Huang
• Ms Alanna Gillespie

The University of Queensland

• Associate Professor Julia Clark

Monash Children’s

• Dr Kerryn Saunders
• Professor Jim Buttery
• Dr Alice Stewart
• Dr Rachael Purcell

Royal Women’s Hospital

• Associate Professor Sue Jacobs
• Associate Professor Michelle Giles

Mercy Hospital for Women

• Dr Dan Casalaz
• Dr Bron Hennebry

Sunshine Hospital, Western Health

• Dr Rosalynn Pszczola

Our research

CMV is a very common virus, and it is estimated that over 60% of Australian adults have had this virus. It is spread by direct contact (e.g. through handling objects with saliva on them then touching the eyes, nose or mouth without first washing your hands).

If you have had CMV, it is possible that you did not know as you may have only experienced flu-like symptoms or no symptoms at all. At the moment, there is no vaccination available to prevent the spread of CMV from person to person. If a pregnant mother is infected with CMV, her baby can be infected with CMV. Research suggests that approximately 1-7% of babies are born with the CMV virus (congenital CMV).

Babies born with congenital CMV may or may not experience medical problems. Some babies with congenital CMV can be born with a hearing loss, or develop hearing loss. Congenital CMV accounts for around 15-20% of congenital hearing loss that affects both ears. For some babies with congenital CMV, hearing loss and other medical problems, giving them a treatment within the first month of life may be beneficial. We do not yet know whether the treatment benefits babies with congenital CMV and/or hearing loss without other medical problems.

A team of researchers, Victorian hearing screeners and clinicians in Melbourne are working together to see whether congenital CMV can be detected early enough to offer treatment. With a simple saliva test, we would like to find out which babies have been affected by congenital CMV. We expect that most babies tested will not have congenital CMV. If the saliva test proves a baby has the CMV virus, the HearS-cCMV team will help their parents to organise an appointment with a specialist to discuss the best management options for them.

Babies meet the entry requirements to take part in the study if they:

• Are aged 21 days or less
• Do not get a ‘pass’ result on their second Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program (VIHSP) hearing screen, i.e. receive a ‘refer’ result, and
• Have had their VIHSP hearing screen done at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Mercy Hospital for Women, Monash Medical Centre or Sunshine Hospital.

Collaborators

Our funding partners

We would like to acknowledge the generous funding support received for this program of research from:

• The University of Melbourne
• The Deafness Foundation
• Monash Children’s Hospital
• Mercy Hospital for Women

Study participants

Thank you to the families who have taken part in the HearS-cCMV study. Without them generously donating their time to support this research, it would not be possible. Their contribution will help us understand whether completing this test for CMV is possible in the first 3 weeks of life.

VIHSP staff

A big thank you to the staff and management team in the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program at our four taking part in maternity hospitals for their support of the HearS-cCMV study.

Our investigator team and staff

Finally, we would also like to thank all of our investigators, staff, and students that have been part of the HearS-cCMV team. Without their knowledge and support, the study would not have been possible.

Publications

Feasibility and acceptability of targeted salivary cytomegalovirus screening through universal newborn hearing screening. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2021. Emma Webb, Alanna N Gillespie, Zeffie Poulakis, Tim Gartland, Jim Buttery, Dan Casalaz, Andrew J Daley, Susan Donath, Amanda Gwee, Susan E Jacobs, Linny K Phuong, Rosalynn Pszczola, Rachael Purcell, Kerryn Saunders, Seilesh Kadambari, Cheryl A. Jones, Valerie Sung, the HearS-cCMV Study Team. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.15705.

Targeted screening for congenital cytomegalovirus: A micro-costing analysis. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2022. Alanna N Gillespie, Kim Dalziel, Emma Webb, Janis Wong, Cheryl A Jones, Valerie Sung, on behalf of the HearS-cCMV Project. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpc.16239