Dr. Jafri Kuthubutheen together with his collaborators have just been awarded a grant of $100,000 over 2 years to study the role of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in babies born with hearing loss.
Congenital CMV infection is considered the most common preventable cause of sensorineural hearing loss in babies worldwide. Its estimated prevalence is 0.5% of all live births, the cause of 8% of all hearing losses and up to 20% of all hearing loss of unknown origin. Currently in WA there is no screening for congenital CMV and therefore this study will be the first of its kind in Western Australia. It has the potential to change the way we screen and manage newborn hearing loss. Dr. Allison Reid will undertake her Masters degree in this project and has just obtained ethics approval for this study which will start shortly.