What is cytomegalovirus?
Cytomegalovirus is a common virus. Once infected, your body retains the virus for life.
Most people don't know they have CMV because it rarely causes problems in healthy people. However, if you're pregnant or if your immune system is weakened, CMV is cause for concern.
Women who develop an active CMV infection during pregnancy can pass the virus to their babies, who might then experience symptoms.
For people who have weakened immune systems, adequate treatment for the disease is necessary, unless CMV infection can be fatal.
CMV spreads from person to person through body fluids, such as blood, saliva, urine, semen and breast milk. There is no cure, but there are medications that can help treat the symptoms.
Symptoms
The following signs and symptoms are more common in babies who have congenital CMV and who are sick at birth:
- Low birth weight
- Yellow skin and eyes (jaundice)
- Enlarged and poorly functioning liver
- Purple skin splotches or a rash or both
- Abnormally small head (microencephaly)
- Enlarged spleen
- Pneumonia
- Seizures
If your immune system is weakened, you might experience serious problems that affect your:
- Eyes
- Lungs
- Liver
- Stomach
- Intestines
- Brain
Most people who are infected with CMV who are otherwise healthy experience few if any symptoms.
When first infected, some adults may have symptoms similar to infectious mononucleosis, including:
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches
CMV is related to the viruses that cause chickenpox, herpes simplex and mononucleosis.
CMV may cycle through periods when it lies dormant and then reactivates.
If you're healthy, CMV mainly stays dormant. When the virus is active in your body, you can pass the virus to other people.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cmv/symptoms-causes/syc-20355358
