Knowledge of Human Cytomegalovirus Infection and Prevention in Pregnant Women: A Baseline, Operational Survey

Table 1

Questions and answers included in the multiple-choice questionnaire.

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(1) Do you know human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection?

 (a) Yes

 (b) No

 (c) Not answer

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(2) Did you undergo to the screening for this virus in your pregnancy?

 (a) Yes

 (b) No

 (c) I do not remember

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(3) Is HCMV infection dangerous if contracted during pregnancy?

 (a) Yes

 (b) No

 (c) Not Answer

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(4) To avoid HCMV infection, you should (check one or more right answers):

 (a) Avoid contact with cats

 (b) Avoid kissing children on their mouth

 (c) Avoid eating raw meat

 (d) Wash accurately your hands after contacts with children’s

    nose or mouth

 (e) Wash accurately fruits and vegetables

 (f) Wash accurately your hands after changing diapers

 (g) Wash accurately your hands after gardening

 (h) Avoid to share dishes with a child

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Possible answers to question #4 were eight: four were right and four were wrong. The right ones were related to prevention of HCMV infection in pregnancy (avoiding contacts with children, hands cleaning after contacts with children’s saliva, hands cleaning after changing child’s diaper, and avoiding to share dishes with children). By contrast, the wrong ones were related to consolidated practices for toxoplasmosis prevention in pregnancy (avoiding cats, avoiding eating raw meat, washing fruits and vegetables before eating, and hands cleaning after gardening). These latter four options were inserted as confounder.