Principal Investigator:

Dr. Sandro Binda

 

Members:

Dr. Maria Barbi

Dr.Laura Pellegrinelli

Ms. Valeria Primache

 

The group’s research activity is focused on:

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection (CMV). – A rapid and reliable diagnosis at birth of the dreadful congenital cytomegalovirus infection can allow the prompt enrolment of the infected child in a clinical follow-up aimed at the earliest identification and successful correction of  damages, such as sensorineural hearing loss, that can develop late in infancy. In this field our group developed  internationally acknowledged diagnostic methods for neonatal congenital CMV infection screening based on viral DNA identification in neonatal samples of blood (CMV DBS test) and saliva (CMV DSS test) dried on inert material.

Currently, the research has its primary focus on two major research lines:

Topic 1. Epidemiology of congenital CMV infection

- Assessment of the infection prevalence in the Italian population and identification of risk groups

 

Topic 2. Prevention ofcongenital CMV infection and sequelae

- Evaluation and improvement of the degree of both awareness of the problem and  knowledge of hygienic measures for primary infection prevention in pregnancy

- Evaluation of the genotype of the infecting virus  and the viral load at birth as prognostic factors for the late development of permanent sequelae,

 

Recent/relevant Publications

Binda S., Mammoliti A., Primache V., Didò P., Corbetta C. , Mosca F., Pugni L., Bossi A., Ricci C., Barbi M. Pp65 antigenemia, plasma real-time PCR and DBS test in symptomatic and asymptomatic cytomegalovirus congenitally infected newborns BMC Infectious Diseases 2010; 10:24

Barbi M., MacKay WG., Binda S., Van Loon AM. External quality assessment of cytomegalovirus DNA detection on dried blood spots BMC Microbiology 2008; 8 : 2

Barbi M., Binda S., Caroppo S. Diagnosis of congenital CMV infection via dried blood spots Rev. Med. Virol.. 2006; 16 : 385-392

 

Contacts

Dr. Sandro Binda:  tel. 02-50315125  sandro.binda@unimi.it

Dr. Laura Pellegrinelli:  tel. 02-50315128  laura.pellegrinelli@unimi.it

Ms. Valeria Primache:  tel. 02-50315123  valeria.primache@unimi.it