Abstract
Diagnosis of CMV infection is characterized by a numerousness of laboratory methods reflecting the difficulties aligned with the clinic relevant diagnosis of this infection. Generally the used methods can be divided into those detecting the virus itself or parts of it (CMV DNA or RNA assays, electron microscopy, virus culture) and those detecting the immunological reaction of the host after having been confronted with the virus (serological assays, detection of CMV-specific cellular immunity). Another classification of CMV assays would be the division in screening assays and confirmatory assays. In the context of congenital CMV infection, serological assays play an important role for screening and risk stratification. Polymerase chain reaction for the detection and quantification of CMV DNA is used for the confirmation of a CMV infection and for risk stratification. Nevertheless, since molecular biology-based methods have got easier to handle and cheaper and thus are used more generally, these methods are more and more used for screening purpose.
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Halwachs-Baumann, G. (2018). Prospects and Obstacles of Diagnosis. In: Halwachs-Baumann, G. (eds) Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98770-5_4
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