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Cytomegalovirus Vaccine

Volume 958: debated on Thursday 16 November 1978

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asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science further to her reply to the hon. Member for Eccles, Official Report, 27th October 1976, column 261, what progress is being made on the vaccination against cytomegalovirus; if there is any evidence to suggest that cytomegalovirus vaccine may be reactivated by pregnancy; and if she will make a further statement.

A small trial of a potential cytomegalovirus—CMV—vaccine was recently begun in kidney transplant patients at St. George's hospital medical school and King's College hospital in London. It is too early for any results to be available. There is some evidence to suggest that CMV infection is reactivated during pregnancy, but information is limited. So far there has not been sufficient use of any CMV vaccine to assess whether vaccination would lead to reactivation of infection during pregnancy.The cytomegalovirus sub-committee of the Medical Research Council's committee on the development of vaccines and immunisation procedures continues to keep the field under review.