Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common congenital infection, transmitted through maternal primary infection, reinfection with a new strain, or reactivation of prior infection during pregnancy. Young children are a major source of transmission, and daycare workers (DCWs) are therefore considered a group at elevated risk of infection. The EDUQ-CMV study was launched to quantify infection risk, viral shedding, and awareness among DCWs compared to workers not exposed to young children in Quebec. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study recruiting female DCWs (exposed), along with female without occupational contact with young children (control). Participants were followed for 12 months with blood and saliva collected at baseline and endline, and saliva collected monthly. At enrollment, socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors, and CMV knowledge data were collected. Chemiluminescent Micro-particle Immunoassay CMV serology (IgG and IgM) as well as IgG avidity were performed using Abbott ARCHITECT™ platform. CMV qPCR was performed using AltoStar PCR platform on saliva and plasma to assess CMV shedding with a target sample size of 2,212 total participants (553 DCWs and 1659 controls). Results: To date, there have been 363 visits among DCWs and 335 visits for controls with preliminary data from 56 DCWs and 69 controls showed that baseline CMV seroprevalence was significantly higher among DCWs (71.4 % vs. 43.5%, p

Introduction/Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading congenital infection, which can occur when women have a primary CMV infection, reinfection with a new CMV strain, or reactivation of a prior CMV infection during pregnancy. Due to exposure to young children, daycare workers (DCWs) may have an increased risk of CMV infection. Thus, we initiated a study to evaluate the risks and knowledge of CMV infection among DCWs in Quebec. Methods: We will recruit female DCWs (n=533) 18-45 years of age from daycare centers, as well as a control group (n=1659) of females without work-related exposure to young children. Participants will be followed for 12 months with blood and saliva collection, and surveys on relevant socio-demographic factors, knowledge, and behaviors. Conventional and strain-specific serology, will be used to detect primary and non-primary infections (i.e., reinfection or reactivation), respectively, and CMV shedding in saliva will be measured by PCR. Poisson regressions adjusted for clustering and weighted for differences in baseline characteristics will be used to calculate the relative risk of primary infection or reinfection, and frequency of shedding among DCWs compared to controls. Qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews will be analyzed using an inductive approach, to describe the knowledge and attitudes about CMV infection risks. Anticipated results: We hypothesize that CMV infection and reinfection with diverse viral strains are more frequent among DCWs than controls after controlling for potential confounders. We expect that DCWs will have a greater awareness of CMV and its potential severity than controls, and that most participants in both groups will be open to behavioral interventions to reduce the risk of (re)infection during pregnancy. Conclusions and implications for policy, practice or additional research: Our research will refine risk estimates and inform public health strategies to prevent congenital CMV infection through behavioral measures as well as vaccine development.