Research background: Infections perinatally acquired are a significant cause of fetal/neonatal mortality or morbidity with severe consequences. The infected fetus/neonate may show growth retardation and severe developmental or functional abnormalities. This Special Issue aims to answer the dilemma of screening or not depending on the kind of infection and anticipate the benefits or harms of screening. This issue is particularly relevant for conditions such as toxoplasmosis and cytomegalovirus (CMV), where the decision to screen can significantly impact clinical outcomes and healthcare strategies. The considerations for and against screening for perinatal infections such as toxoplasmosis and CMV have profound implications for translational medicine.

Examples of perinatal conditions related to such decisions are toxoplasma and cytomegalovirus. To screen or not to screen for toxoplasma: Medical societies in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and some European countries recommend against universal serological screening for toxoplasmosis for the general obstetric population. This recommendation has specific reasons: 1) The prevalence of maternal toxoplasmosis is low. 2) Compared to other countries, the majority of women are infected with less virulent genotypes of toxoplasma, reducing the risk for fetal toxoplasmosis. 3) The incidence of maternal toxoplasmosis is low. 4) In asymptomatic pregnant women who screened positive, the definite diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is complicated because there are false positive results, and it should be examined whether the infection occurred before conception or during pregnancy, which is not always easy.

To screen or not to screen for cytomegalovirus (CMV). Medical societies recommend against routine serological screening for recent CMV infection in pregnancy, considering, among others, that: 1) Seropositive pregnant women are at risk for fetal infection with a new CMV strain, or reactivation of the same latent CMV. 2) There is no vaccine to prevent CMV infection in seronegative women.

Author registration and submission: https://accscience.com/user/login. Submit your paper along with a cover letter, including the special issue title. Your paper will undergo a fair peer review and be published immediately after acceptance and will be available to an international audience.