VIRUMILK Biosensor for CMV Detection in Breast Milk from Lactating Women of Preterm Infants Less than 33 Weeks

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of neonatal viral infection and can have a significant impact on the neurosensory development of newborns and especially preterm infants. While congenital CMV infection affects about 2-5% of very preterm infants, the risk of postnatal infection, particularly through breast milk, is much higher in this population (20%). However, infection could be considerably reduced by an early and fast screening of breast milk. Indeed, a treatment (freezing or pasteurization) of contaminated breast milk only could eliminate the virus. The idea of this position paper is that breast milk screening would help defining an appropriate and personalized feeding strategy. We explain how to develop a CMV biosensor to detect the virus in milk. It employs specific CMV antibodies grafted on a biochip surface to capture viral material and additional detection antibodies in a ``sandwich assay'' type system. Detection is based on optical absorption. It will be tested with a device developed previously. However, preliminary results obtained in ELISA technique with breast milk and homemade antibodies are presented in this position paper. The ulterior motive of this work is the fabrication of an autonomous and automated device that will be experimented in subsequent diagnosis strategy trial.