3.1 Patient characteristics
A total of 223 children were enrolled the investigation (Table 1). Out of these, 42 children aged 0d-21d (HCMV infection group (n=20) and control group (n=22)), 98 children aged 22d-6m (HCMV infection group (n=74) and control group (n=24)), 35 children aged 7m-11m (HCMV infection group (n=17) and control group (n=18)), 17 children aged 12m-23m (HCMV infection group (n=6) and control group (n=11)), 31 children aged 2y-6y (HCMV infection group (n=15) and control group (n=16)). The characteristics of all children are shown in Table 1.