Should We Be Adding Congenital CMV to the Universal Newborn Screening Panel? Advocacy, Policy, Progress and Controversy.

Chair(s)

• 

  Mark Schleiss, MD (he/him/his)

  American Legion and Auxiliary Heart Research Foundation Professor
  Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology
  UMN Medical School
  Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
• 

  Mary Caserta, MD (she/her/hers)

  Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, part-time
  University of Rochester Medical Center
  Rochester, New York, United States

Session

Description: The controversial issue of whether all newborns should be screened for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is indeed a "state of the art" challenge in pediatric practice. Since most infants identified by newborn cCMV screening have a generally good prognosis for normal outcomes, concern has been raised about risk of creating a "vulnerable child syndrome" in asymptomatic screen-positive infants. There are unresolved questions about diagnostic evaluations for screen-positive infants, and disagreement regarding which infants benefit from antiviral therapy.

In this "State of the Art" symposium, the current landscape of universal cCMV screening will be discussed. Dr. Schleiss, whose research and advocacy lead to legislation in Minnesota that resulted in universal cCMV screening in 2023, will present this state's experience to date, including data on infant outcomes. Dr. Dunn, a pediatrician at Alberta Children's Hospital, was instrumental in implementing cCMV screening in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and more recently Alberta. Dr. Dunn will review the course of universal cCMV screening in these Canadian provinces. Dr. Caggana is Director, Newborn Screening Program and PI on a NICHD-funded exploratory study of cCMV screening in New York state, and will present this project. Dr. Terranova is Deputy Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Public Health, and will discuss Connecticut's plan regarding a new legislative mandate in 2023 to commence universal cCMV screening. Dr. Caserta is Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Rochester, and Chair of an AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases working group charged with updating guidelines on cCMV, and will present the AAP perspective.

Presentations:

• 1:00 PM – 1:14 PM ET

  Data, Democracy, and Determination: How Minnesota Became the First State in the USA to Screen All Newborns for Congenital CMV
  

  Speaker: Mark R. Schleiss, MD (he/him/his) – UMN Medical School
• 1:14 PM – 1:32 PM ET

  Newborn Screening for Congenital CMV in Canada: Implementation Challenges and the Importance of EHDI Program Infrastructure
  

  Speaker: Jessica Dunn, MD, MPH (she/her/hers) – Newborn Screening Ontario
• 1:32 PM – 1:50 PM ET

  Implementing a NICHD-Funded Universal cCMV Screening Study in New York: What Will We Learn that Informs Newborn Screening?
  

  Speaker: Michele Caggana, ScD, FACMG – New York State Dept Health
• 1:50 PM – 2:08 PM ET

  Public Act No. 23-204 and cCMV Screening: How Connecticut's Health Department Plans Implementation of Universal cCMV Testing
  

  Speaker: Jody Terranova, DO, MPA (she/her/hers) – Connecticut Department of Public Health
• 2:08 PM – 2:27 PM ET

  Updated Recommendations on cCMV Diagnosis and Management: How Will the AAP COID Statement Address Universal cCMV Screening?
  

  Speaker: Mary T. Caserta, MD (she/her/hers) – University of Rochester Medical Center