Transient Oral Human Cytomegalovirus Infections Indicate Inefficient Viral Spread from Very Few Initially Infected Cells.

ABSTRACT: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is acquired by the oral route in children, and primary infection is associated with abundant mucosal replication, as well as the establishment of latency in myeloid cells that results in lifelong infection. The efficiency of primary CMV infection in humans following oral exposure, however, is unknown. We consistently detected self-limited, low-level oral CMV shedding events, which we termed transient CMV infections, in a prospective birth cohort of 30 highly exposed CMV-uninfected infants. We estimated the likelihood of transient oral CMV infections by comparing their observed frequency to that of established primary infections, characterized by persistent high-level shedding, viremia, and seroconversion. We developed mathematical models of viral dynamics upon initial

SUBMITTER: Mayer BT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5446638 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature