A proposal to back universal newborn screening for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) was fiercely debated among the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates on Tuesday.
The proposal was ultimately referred for more study after several speakers threw cold water on the idea, saying such policies -- now in place just in Minnesota and Connecticut -- could do more harm than good.
"This one's tough," said Eli Freiman, MD, a delegate from the Massachusetts Medical Society who spoke on the society's behalf. "I want us to screen for congenital CMV; I want us to do it right ... I'm asking us, as physicians, to understand the nuance and restraint that is required here."
"This does need to get done, but we're not there yet," he said.
In its rationale, the proposal said one in every 200 newborns in the U.S. has the congenital CMV infection, although most are asymptomatic at birth. It must be diagnosed within the first 21 days of life to distinguish it from postnatal CMV infections. And, it said, many infected individuals who are asymptomatic at birth develop late-onset hearing loss.
