Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common human herpes virus. Once infected with CMV, the body retains the virus for life. In most healthy people CMV causes mild or no symptoms and most people are unaware of having had the infection. In individuals with an impaired immune system CMV can cause more severe disease and it can also cause problems for the developing foetus if a woman is infected with CMV when she is pregnant. This infection is called congenital CMV infection (cCMV) and can cause a range of problems for the baby.
At the PIDRG and SGVI, we have a special interest in studying CMV infection, particularly in pregnant women (maternal CMV infection) and their babies (cCMV infection). These studies have been sponsored by SGUL and external organisations. We have several studies focusing on CMV infection which are completed, ongoing, or in the pipeline, as described below:
Past studies:
- International ECCI cCMV registry
This is a database registry sponsored by SGUL through the European cCMV Initiative (ECCI), including children with cCMV infection from birth. Its aim is to collect important data such as developmental outcomes. Leadership for this registry has now been handed over to our Spanish colleagues at ECCI.
- Toddler Valgan
This was a randomised clinical trial sponsored by ( ) and funded by ( ), looking at the outcome of antiviral treatment with Valgancyclovir in children infected with cCMV infection, either to commence within the first month of life or beyond.
- RACE-FIT
RACE FIT was a study investigating the impact of a digital educational intervention about CMV in pregnancy. This study, sponsored by SGUL and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), recruited women in early pregnancy who were more at risk of exposure to CMV because of living with a young child. Participants were randomised either to receive the educational intervention or to treatment as usual. Those in the educational intervention group increased their knowledge about CMV, had an increased understanding of the risks of CMV infection in pregnancy and had changed some of their day-to-day activities in keeping with the advice in the educational intervention. Women who had received the educational intervention did not have any increase in reported depression or anxiety.
Current studies:
This is an observational study sponsored by SGUL and funded by Merck Sharpe and Dohme, looking at the characteristics of CMV viral excretion in the bodily fluids, known as CMV shedding, in women during pregnancy who have previously been infected with CMV. – Please link the study to the current studies page
Project Team
Project Manager
Suzannah Wright
Research Midwife
Vanessa Greening
Director
Paul Heath
Project Manager
Suzannah Wright
Suzannah is a Project Manager with over five years’ experience working in clinical trials. She primarily supports the paediatric vaccine studies, working closely with the multidisciplinary team at St George’s Vaccine Institute to set up and co-ordinate the clinical trials.
Email:wright@sgul.ac.uk
Research Midwife
Vanessa Greening
Vanessa is a research midwife within the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Group within the Vaccine Institute, leading on studies that involve surveillance, interventions or treatments in pregnancy.
Prior to her role in research, Vanessa worked as a clinical midwife in multiple maternity units across the UK and abroad. She trained in Southampton graduating in 2010.
Email:vgreenin@sgul.ac.uk
Director
Paul Heath
Paul Heath is a Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s, University of London, where he co-leads the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Research Group and is the Director of the Vaccine Institute. His particular research interests are in the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases, in clinical vaccine trials, particularly in at-risk groups and in perinatal infections. He coordinates a European neonatal infection surveillance network (neonIN) and the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group (UKPVG), and other recent work includes national surveillance on neonatal meningitis, neonatal GBS and Listeria infections, maternal immunisation trials, studies of different vaccine schedules in preterm infants and COVID-19 vaccine trials (Phase I-III). He is Chair of the Research Committee of the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Section Editor of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal (maternal & neonatal), Clinical Lead for Children’s research for South London and a member of the WHO GBS Surveillance Technical Working Group.
Safety and Efficacy of NVX-CoV2373 Covid-19 Vaccine. Heath PT, Galiza EP, Baxter DN, Boffito M, Browne D, Burns F, Chadwick DR, Clark R, Cosgrove C, Galloway J, Goodman AL, Heer A, Higham A, Iyengar S, Jamal A, Jeanes C, Kalra PA, Kyriakidou C, McAuley DF, Meyrick A, Minassian AM, Minton J, Moore P, Munsoor I, Nicholls H, Osanlou O, Packham J, Pretswell CH, San Francisco Ramos A, Saralaya D, Sheridan RP, Smith R, Soiza RL, Swift PA, Thomson EC, Turner J, Viljoen ME, Albert G, Cho I, Dubovsky F, Glenn G, Rivers J, Robertson A, Smith K, Toback S; 2019nCoV-302 Study Group. N Engl J Med. 2021 Jun 30:NEJMoa2107659. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2107659. Vergnano S, Godbole G, Simbo A, Smith-Palmer A, Cormican M, Anthony M, Heath PT. Arch Dis Child. 2021 May 13:archdischild-2021-321602. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2021-321602. Ding Y, Wang Y, Hsia Y, Russell N, Heath PT. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Nov;26(11):2651-2659. doi: 10.3201/eid2611.181414. Khalil A, Kalafat E, Benlioglu C, O’Brien P, Morris E, Draycott T, Thangaratinam S, Le Doare K, Heath P, Ladhani S, von Dadelszen P, Magee LA. EClinicalMedicine. 2020 Aug;25:100446. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100446. Epub 2020 Jul 3.PMID: 32838230 Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: a preliminary report of a phase 1/2, single-blind, randomised controlled trial. Folegatti PM, Ewer KJ, Aley PK, Angus B, Becker S, Belij-Rammerstorfer S, Bellamy D, Bibi S, Bittaye M, Clutterbuck EA, Dold C, Faust SN, Finn A, Flaxman AL, Hallis B, Heath P, Jenkin D, Lazarus R, Makinson R, Minassian AM, Pollock KM, Ramasamy M, Robinson H, Snape M, Tarrant R, Voysey M, Green C, Douglas AD, Hill AVS, Lambe T, Gilbert SC, Pollard AJ; Oxford COVID Vaccine Trial Group. Lancet. 2020 Aug 15;396(10249):467-478. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31604-4. Epub 2020 Jul 20.PMID: 32702298
Email:pheath@sgul.ac.uk
Secretary Phone:020 8725 3262