Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
About cytomegalovirus
Infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the herpes virus family is very common. Between 50% and 80% of human
in the United States have a CMV infection by the time they are 40 years old, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kids usually infected in early childhood, especially those in child care and preschool settings. CMV infections
are rarely serious in otherwise healthy children and adults, they usually cause only mild symptoms, if any. If the symptoms do
appear, they are similar to mononucleosis ("mono") and seen only last a few weeks.
CMV is mainly a problem for certain high-risk groups, including:
unborn babies whose mothers are infected with CMV during pregnancy
Children or adults whose immune systems have been weakened by disease or drug treatment, such as organ transplant
Recipients or people infected with HIV
Once an individual has had a CMV infection, the virus lies dormant in the control (or inactive) in the body, but it can
reactivated. The virus is more likely to be reactivated - and cause serious illness - in people who have weakened
Immune system due to illness.
Symptoms
The symptoms of CMV infection will vary depending on the age and health of the person, the subject is infected, and the like
Infection occurred.
Infants who are infected before birth usually no symptoms of CMV infection after they are born, although some may
develop hearing, vision, neurological and developmental problems over time. In some cases there are symptoms at birth,
What can premature birth are being small for gestational age, jaundice, enlarged liver and spleen, microcephaly
(Small head), seizures, skin rash, and feeding difficulties. These babies are also at high risk for the development of listening,
Vision, neurological and developmental disorders.
Newborns can also CMV infection during or shortly after birth contract by passing through the birth canal of an infected
Mother, consume breast milk from a mother with the virus or receiving a transfusion of blood donated by a person
Infection with CMV. Most of these children show no symptoms of CMV infection, but some may develop pneumonia or other
Symptoms.
Premature and ill term infants who are infected soon after birth also at risk for neurological and developmental disorders
Problems over time.
Although CMV infections that occur in children after the newborn period usually did not cause significant disease, some children
and young children may develop pneumonia, hepatitis (liver inflammation), or a rash.
Older children and young people who may be infected mono-like symptoms, such as fatigue, muscle pain, headache, fever,
and enlarged liver and spleen. These symptoms are usually mild and usually last only 2 to 3 weeks.
CMV can cause serious infections in people receiving organ transplants or those whose immune systems have received
weakened. In an include with AIDS or HIV, CMV infection, the lungs, the nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, and
the eye, sometimes causing blindness.
Time
If the symptoms of CMV do appear, how long they last varies depending on how the infection occurs and the age and general
Health of the patient. For example, serious CMV infections before birth cause development problems that influence in a
Child for a lifetime. On the other hand, infections in young people can only take 2 to 3 weeks and cause no lasting problems.
How it spreads
In the United States, approximately 1% of children are infected with CMV before birth - usually only if the mother has developed
for the first time CMV infection during pregnancy. An infected mother can transmit the virus to her baby before, during or after
Birth.
Anyone with a new or past CMV infection can transmit the virus to others, even if he or she does not display any symptoms.
But transmission usually requires fairly close contact, the virus can be spread through saliva, breast milk, vaginal
Fluids, semen, urine and stool. It may also be that of blood products and in donor organs, making infection
Blood transfusion or organ transplantation.
Among children, the virus is commonly spread in day care or preschool settings, where it easily
indirect contact, particularly when contaminated toy. Infected children can then spread the virus to their families.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Doctors can call a severe CMV infection diagnosed by a culture of a person's throat, urine, blood or other body fluids
Tissue or fluid. Blood tests can also look for certain antibodies, are part of the immune system in response to a CMV
Infection, their presence of an active CMV infection indicate. Particular viral DNA detection assays are sometimes used
the diagnosis of CMV infection.
Currently, no specific treatment or recommended for otherwise healthy people with CMV infection.
Patients in whom CMV infection can be life-threatening (newborns, organ transplant patients and people who have
have treated for cancer or immune disorders such as AIDS) can be treated with intravenous (IV) antiviral drugs,
typically in a hospital. Oral antiviral medications can also be used at home, if the infection is under control and the
Patient is stable. Since these antiviral drugs can have serious side effects, doctors use them with great caution,
especially in children.
In bone marrow transplant patients given CMV immunoglobulin (IVIG CMV) and the antiviral drug ganciclovir intravenously
can be used to fight CMV infections are.
Prevention
Currently there is no vaccine to prevent CMV infection. For those who have children with close contact, especially
pregnant women or women who might become pregnant, washing your hands to reduce the risk of infection are effective, and
do not share eating utensils with young children and avoiding close contact with someone who has a CMV infection.
A mother who has a CMV infection, should not stop breastfeeding - the advantages of breastfeeding are likely to outweigh
the risks of passing CMV to the baby, which probably develop any symptoms when infected.
Are of a transplanted organ for organ transplant patients at risk of CMV, preventive therapies
available. Blood banks have certain screening and processing procedures to prevent CMV in the past to help
Blood products.
When to call the doctor
Call your doctor if your child has any of these or other "mono-like" symptoms:
Fever lasting several days
unusual or extreme tiredness
Muscle pain
Headaches
If you are pregnant, ask your doctor about your risk for CMV infection and how to protect your baby from CMV
Infection before birth.
If your child has had an organ transplant or HIV, AIDS, cancer, or any disease that affects the immune system, he or
it is a particular risk of CMV infection. Hold should be noted in close contact with your doctor about signs and symptoms.