MCA Scientific Events 4th Congress on Congenital Cytomegalovirus 2025

The 4th Congress on Congenital Cytomegalovirus, titled “From Pregnancy to Infancy: Let’s face it,” will be held in Naples, Italy, on 20 – 21 November 2025. Online participation is available. The congress is led by Presidents Yves Ville (France), Efraim Bilavsky (Israel), and Francesco Raimondi (Italy).
Learning Objectives

To explore and evaluate screening strategies for CMV in pregnancy across different countries.

To analyze the complexities and implementation of serological assays for maternal CMV non-primary infections.

To understand the role of prenatal diagnosis tools, including NIPT, invasive prenatal diagnosis, and digital PCR.

To review the prognosis of fetal infections, integrating the use of ultrasound, MRI, and the pharmacology of antiviral drugs in pregnancy.

To discuss the current and future impacts of congenital CMV on children, including inner ear development, neurological disorders, and autism spectrum links.

To assess the characteristics and progression of hearing loss in children with congenital CMV and debate the efficacy of antiviral treatments.

To examine the progress and future prospects of realizing a vaccine for the prevention of congenital CMV.

Target Audience

This congress is designed for healthcare professionals, researchers, and specialists dedicated to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) from the prenatal stage through infancy.
Best for Obstetricians, Gynecologists, Pediatricians, Neonatologists, Infectious Disease Specialists, Virologists, Audiologists, and Immunologists.

Topics
Thursday, 20 November 2025

09:00 – 09:10 | WELCOME FROM CONGRESS PRESIDENTS: Yves Ville (France), Francesco Raimondi (Italy), Efraim Bilavsky (Israel)

09:10 – 10:40 | SESSION 1 – SCREENING IN PREGNANCY (Chairs: Yves Ville, France; Tiziana Lazzaroto, Italy)

09:10 – 09:40 | Screening in pregnancy, in Italy and in France

Oral Communication: Outcome of primary CMV infection in pregnancy in Italy: data from a large multicentric cohort before and after the introduction of valacyclovir in the clinical practice at country level (Lorenzo Zammarchi, Italy)

Oral Communication: Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in Children Born to Mothers with Primary CMV Infection Treated with Valaciclovir: Analysis of the Multi-center MEGAL-ITALI Study (Elisabetta Venturini, Italy)

Oral Communication: Implementation of a national system for reporting and monitoring primary maternal CMV infections in France, in response to the HAS recommendations (Sophie Alain, France)

09:40 – 10:00 | Serology made simple, or nearly (Marianne Leruez Ville, France)

10:00 – 10:20 | How can we help pre-immune women? (Daniele Lilleri, Italy)

10:20 – 10:40 | Discussion

10:40 – 11:20 | SESSION 2 – Oral communications (Chairs: Anna Gonce, Spain; Christelle Vauloup-Fellous, France)

Oral Communication: Occurrence of situations in which early CMV screening serology (<14 weeks of gestation) poses interpretative challenges (Christelle Vauloup-Fellous, France)

Oral Communication: CMV-Scan: a highly sensitive serological assay to detect maternal CMV non-primary infection (Ariane Larouche, Canada)

Oral Communication: Reduction of voluntary termination of pregnancy in pregnant women with primary Cytomegalovirus infections treated with valaciclovir (Alice Bonetti, Italy)

Oral Communication: Evolving Trends in Maternal Screening and First-Trimester Treatment: Data from the French National Herpesvirus Reference Center (Elodie Ribot, France)

Oral Communication: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: The Clinical Impact of Maternal Non-Primary CMV Infection ICCG- Israel Congenital CMV Group (Goni Peleg, Israel)

11:30 – 12:00 | COFFEE BREAK

12:00 – 14:10 | SESSION 3 – PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS (Chairs: Valentine Faure-Bardon, France; Marie-Luce Delforge, Belgium)

NIPT for CMV in pregnancy (Brigitte Faas, The Netherlands)

Invasive prenatal diagnosis (Nicolas Bourgon, France)

Is there more for serology to say? (Alfred Bissinger, Germany (online))

Secondary prevention, an international registry (Christros Chatzakis, United Kingdom)

13:20 – 13:40 | Discussion

13:40 – 14:30 | LUNCH / POSTER VIEWING

14:30 – 15:20 | SESSION 4 – Oral Communications (Chairs: Jacques Fourgeaud, France; Caroline De Coninck, Belgium)

Beyond Real-Time PCR: diagnostic accuracy of Digital PCR in the Pre-natal Diagnosis of Congenital CMV Infection (Liliana Gabrielli, Italy)

High-Dose Valacyclovir in Primary Cytomegalovirus Infection During Pregnancy: Effects on Immune Modulation and Maternal Serologic Response (Silvio Tartaglia, Italy)

Successful prevention of fetal CMV infection by valacyclovir and the interval between maternal infection and treatment initiation, a retrospective study (Jacob Amir, Israel)

Evaluation of MyCMV: A Tool to Enhance the Diagnosis of Cytomegalovirus Infection During Pregnancy (Jacques Fourgeaud, France)

Discussion

15:20 – 15:50 | COFFEE BREAK

15:50 – 17:20 | SESSION 5 – PROGNOSIS OF FETAL INFECTION (Chairs: Olivier Picone, France; Francesco Raimondi, Italy)

How to combine ultrasound and MRI? (Yves Ville, France)

Biology of an infected fetus for best and for worse (Anna Gonce, Spain)

Pharmacology of antiviral drugs in pregnancy (Valentine Faure-Bardon, France)

16:50 – 17:20 | Discussion

17:20 – 18:10 | SESSION 6 – Oral communications (Chairs: Alfred Bissinger, Germany (online); Hermione Lyall, United Kingdom)

Inhibitory effect of antivirals on CMV infection in human stem cell-derived neural systems (Renata Vieira De Sa, The Netherlands)

Rate of post-amniocentesis transmission in pregnant women with primary cytomegalovirus infection treated with valaciclovir (Piera d’Angelo, Italy)

Congenital cytomegalovirus causes increased expression of neutrophil granule genes and suppression of innate immune response genes (Helen Payne, United Kingdom)

18:00 – 18:10 | (Reserved block, unspecified details)

Friday, 21 November 2025

09:00 – 11:00 | SESSION 7 – The present and future of children with congenital CMV (Chairs: Ann Vossen, Belgium; Jacob Amir, Israel)

Impact of CMV on the Inner Ear – Looking through the Developmental Lens (Sharon Cushing, Canada)

Redefining the “Asymptomatic” Child in the Emerging Era of Universal cCMV Screening (Mark Schleiss, United States)

The link between cCMV and the autistic spectrum? (Marianne Leruez Ville & David Grévent, France)

How Close Are We? Prospects and Predicaments in Realizing the Goal of Licensing a Vaccine for Prevention of Congenital CMV (Mark Schleiss, United States)

Oral Communication: Beyond Hearing and Vision: Pilot Data on Olfactory Function in Congenital Cytomegalovirus (Serena Salomè, Italy)

Oral Communication: cCMV infection and risk of autism spectrum and other neurodevelopmental disorders in a large patient population in Northern California (Tara Greenhow, United States)

Oral Communication: Educational attainment, absenteeism, and special educational needs outcomes in school children up to age 10/11 with congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV): A population-based cohort study using linked education and hospital data from England (Ayana Cant, United Kingdom)

11:00 – 11:30 | Discussion

11:30 – 12:20 | COFFEE BREAK & POSTER WALK

12:20 – 13:30 | SESSION 8 – Hearing loss on children with congenial CMV (Chairs: Anna Rita Fetoni, Italy; Efraim Bilavsky, Israel)

Characteristics of Progression in Hearing Loss in Children with cCMV (Sharon Cushing, Canada)

An Enzymatic Assay for Ganciclovir Triphosphate Monitoring in Infants With Congenital Cytomegalovirus (Willow Chernoske, United States)

CMV-specific IFN-γ responses post QuantiFERON CMV test at birth correlate with symptoms at birth and long-term outcome in infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection (Vana Papaevangelo, Greece)

13:00 – 13:30 | Discussion

13:30 – 14:30 | LUNCH AND POSTER VIEWING

14:30 – 15:00 | Debate on Antiviral treatment in children with late onset hearing loss

PRO – Efraim Bilavsky, Israel

CONS – Ann Vossen, Belgium

15:00 – 15:15 | Discussion

15:15 – 15:30 | CLOSING REMARKS: Yves Ville (France), Francesco Raimondi (Italy), Efraim Bilavsky (Israel)