Cmv how do you get it
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection - Symptoms and causes
Overview
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) 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.
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, especially people who have had an organ, stem cell or bone marrow transplant, 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.
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Symptoms
Most healthy people who are infected with CMV may experience no symptoms. Some experience minor symptoms. People who are more likely to experience signs and symptoms of CMV include:
- Newborns who became infected with CMV before they were born (congenital CMV).
- Infants who become infected during birth or shortly afterward (perinatal CMV). This group includes babies infected through breast milk.
- People who have weakened immune systems, such as those who have had an organ, bone marrow or stem cell transplant, or those who are infected with HIV.
Babies
Most babies who have congenital CMV appear healthy at birth.
A few babies who have congenital CMV who appear healthy at birth develop signs over time — sometimes not for months or years after birth. The most common of these late-occurring signs are hearing loss and developmental delay. A small number of babies may also develop vision problems.
The following signs and symptoms are more common in babies who have congenital CMV and who are sick at birth:
- Premature 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
People who have weakened immunity
If your immune system is weakened, you might experience serious problems that affect your:
- Eyes
- Lungs
- Liver
- Esophagus
- Stomach
- Intestines
- Brain
Healthy adults
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
When to see a doctor
See your doctor if:
- You have a weakened immune system and you're experiencing symptoms of CMV infection. For people who have weakened immune systems, CMV infection can be serious or even fatal. People who have undergone stem cell or organ transplants seem to be at greatest risk.
- You develop a mononucleosis-like illness while you're pregnant.
If you have CMV but are otherwise healthy, and you're experiencing any mild, generalized illness, you could be in a reactivation period. Self-care, such as getting plenty of rest, should be enough for your body to control the infection.
When your child should see a doctor
If you know you were infected with CMV during your pregnancy, tell your baby's doctor.
The doctor will likely assess your baby for hearing or vision problems.
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Causes
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. The virus is spread through body fluids — including blood, urine, saliva, breast milk, tears, semen and vaginal fluids. Casual contact doesn't transmit CMV.
Ways the virus can be transmitted include:
- Touching your eyes or the inside of your nose or mouth after coming into contact with the body fluids of an infected person.
- Sexual contact with an infected person.
- The breast milk of an infected mother.
- Organ, bone marrow or stem cell transplantation or blood transfusions.
- Birth. An infected mother can pass the virus to her baby before or during birth. The risk of transmitting the virus to your baby is higher if you become infected for the first time during pregnancy.
Risk factors
CMV is a widespread and common virus that can infect almost anyone.
Complications
Complications of CMV infection vary, depending on your overall health and when you were infected.
Healthy adults
Rarely, CMV causes a healthy adult to develop mononucleosis. Other rare complications for healthy adults include problems with the digestive system, liver, brain and nervous system.
People who have weakened immunity
Complications of CMV infection can include:
- Vision loss, due to inflammation of the light-sensing layer of the eye (retinitis)
- Digestive system problems, including inflammation of the colon (colitis), esophagus (esophagitis) and liver (hepatitis)
- Nervous system problems, including brain inflammation (encephalitis)
- Pneumonia
Infants who have congenital CMV
An infant whose mother first became infected with CMV during pregnancy is more likely to experience complications.
Complications for the baby can include:
- Hearing loss
- Intellectual disability
- Vision problems
- Seizures
- Lack of coordination
- Weakness or problems using muscles
Prevention
Careful hygiene is the best prevention against CMV. You can take these precautions:
- Wash your hands often. Use soap and water for 15 to 20 seconds, especially if you have contact with young children or their diapers, saliva or other oral secretions. This is especially important if the children attend child care.
- Avoid contact with tears and saliva when you kiss a child. Instead of kissing a child on the lips, for instance, kiss on the forehead. This is especially important if you're pregnant.
- Avoid sharing food or drinking out of the same glass as others. Sharing glasses and kitchen utensils can spread CMV.
- Be careful with disposable items. When disposing of diapers, tissues and other items that have been contaminated with bodily fluids, wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face.
- Clean toys and countertops. Clean any surfaces that come in contact with children's urine or saliva.
- Practice safe sex. Wear a condom during sexual contact to prevent spreading CMV through semen and vaginal fluids.
If you have weakened immunity, you may benefit from taking antiviral medication to prevent CMV disease.
Experimental vaccines are being tested for women of childbearing age. These vaccines may be useful in preventing CMV infection in mothers and infants, and reducing the chance that babies born to women who are infected while pregnant will develop disabilities.
By Mayo Clinic Staff
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In this Article
- What Is Cytomegalovirus?
- Cytomegalovirus Symptoms
- Cytomegalovirus Causes and Transmission
- Cytomegalovirus Tests and Diagnosis
- Cytomegalovirus Treatment
- Cytomegalovirus Complications
- Cytomegalovirus Outlook
- Cytomegalovirus Prevention
What Is Cytomegalovirus?
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus.
Over half of adults in the U.S. have it in their body by age 40. CMV spreads easily through an infected person’s saliva or other body fluids. It’s related to the herpes virus, which gives you cold sores.
If you have a healthy immune system that can easily control the virus, it usually doesn't cause problems. But it can make people who have weakened immune systems sick.
In people who have advanced HIV, CMV can cause an eye infection called retinitis that may lead to blindness. CMV retinitis is what’s known as an AIDS-defining condition. The virus could also affect your intestines, esophagus, lungs, brain, or nerves.
There are different types of cytomegalovirus infection.
- Congenital. This is when a baby gets CMV from its mother before birth.
- Primary. This is the first time someone gets CMV. It usually doesn’t cause symptoms, but some people may have signs that look like mononucleosis.
- Reactivation. An infection that has been dormant can become active again when your immune system is weakened.
It can happen if you have advanced HIV, are in treatment for cancer, or have an organ transplant.
Cytomegalovirus Symptoms
General symptoms of primary CMV
Most healthy people who get CMV don't know it. If you have symptoms of primary CMV, they're mild and include:
- Fatigue
- Swollen glands
- Fever
- Sore throat
- Muscle aches
Less common symptoms of primary CMV
In rare cases, CMV can also cause:
- Changes to your personality
- Headaches
- Trouble concentrating
- Shortness of breath
- Dry cough
Symptoms of congenital CMV
Babies born with CMV might have:
- Premature delivery
- Small size or low birth weight
- Bruise-like rashes
- Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
- Swollen liver and spleen
- Small head (microcephaly)
- Seizures
- Hearing loss
- Pneumonia
- Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
Symptoms of CMV with HIV
If you also have advanced HIV, CMV can affect different parts of your body.
You could have:
- Blind spots or moving black spots (floaters) in your eyesight
- Blurry vision
- Blindness
- Diarrhea
- Belly pain
- Trouble swallowing or painful swallowing because of ulcers in your mouth or esophagus
- Confusion
- Lower back pain
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Weakness in your legs
If you have HIV, you probably won’t get sick with CMV unless your CD4 count, a type of white blood cell, is below 100.
Cytomegalovirus Causes and Transmission
You probably won't catch CMV from casual contact. But you can get it by touching your eyes, nose, or mouth after having contact with an infected person's:
- Saliva
- Semen
- Vaginal fluids
- Blood
- Urine
- Breast milk
You can also get cytomegalovirus through:
- Sexual contact
- Blood transfusions
- Organ transplants
CMV spreads easily in places with lots of young children, like day-care centers, so anyone who spends time there is at higher risk of getting it.
You’re also more likely to get the virus if your immune system is weakened because of a medication or another health condition.
Cytomegalovirus Tests and Diagnosis
Your doctor will order tests such as:
- Blood and urine tests. These include CMV antigen (a part of the virus), a virus culture, or PCR (a molecular test). Serologic tests look for things your immune system makes to fight CMV, called IgM and IgG antibodies, although most healthy people also have them.
- A biopsy. Your doctor takes a small sample of tissue from your intestines, your esophagus, or your lung and look at it under a microscope.
- Eye tests to check for inflammation in your retina.
- Imaging tests, like a CT scan, to look for changes in your lungs or brain.
Cytomegalovirus Treatment
When you have retinitis because of CMV, your doctor may give you strong medications intravenously (through a vein) for a couple of weeks, a process called induction therapy.
After a while, they may switch you to pills.
You might have medication injected into your eye if your vision is in danger.
Your doctor might prescribe drugs including:
- Cidofovir (Vistide)
- Foscarnet (Foscavir)
- Ganciclovir (Cytovene)
- Maribavir (Livtencity)
- Valganciclovir (Valcyte)
These drugs generally can't cure the disease if you have advanced HIV, but they can control it while you get antiretroviral therapy (ART) for your HIV infection.
Depending on the medicine, you could have side effects including:
- Low white blood cell count (neutropenia), which raises your chance for other infections
- Feeling tired from low red blood cell count (anemia)
- Upset stomach or throwing up
- Rash
- Kidney problems
Most important, if you take ART early in an HIV infection, the drugs will keep it from getting worse and will keep you from getting CMV in the first place.
Cytomegalovirus Complications
It’s rare, but CMV can cause complications including:
- Mononucleosis
- Guillain-Barre syndrome
- Brain inflammation (encephalitis)
- Heart inflammation (myocarditis)
In people with HIV, complications include:
- Retinitis
- Pneumonia
- Skin rashes and lesions
- Problems in the nerves, esophagus, lungs, colon, or mucous membranes
- Brain swelling
Complications in babies born with CMV include:
- Learning problems
- Cerebral palsy or trouble with muscle tone and coordination
- Seizures
Cytomegalovirus Outlook
There’s no cure for CMV. The virus stays inactive in your body and can cause more problems later. This reactivation is most common in people who’ve had stem cell and organ transplants.
Your outlook depends on your overall health. In people who have strong immune systems, CMV symptoms almost always go away on their own.
Congenital CMV can have lifelong effects. The risks are highest when the mother has their first CMV infection during a pregnancy.
If you have a weakened immune system, you might need treatment for the rest of your life to prevent complications.
Cytomegalovirus Prevention
CMV was once the most common viral opportunistic infection -- illnesses that are worse or happen more often in people with weakened immune systems -- tied to HIV. Now, ART can help keep your CD4 count up and your immune system strong. It can also help stop retinitis from coming back.
If you have advanced HIV, your doctor might also give you medicine to prevent CMV, in addition to your ART. But it's expensive, sometimes causes severe side effects, and may not work well.
The most important thing is to take your ART medications daily as prescribed.
Talk to your doctor about your chance of getting CMV if you're having a blood transfusion.
HIV & AIDS Guide
- Overview & Facts
- Symptoms & Causes
- Diagnosis & Tests
- Treatment & Prevention
- Complications
- Living & Managing
Cytomegalovirus infection (CMV), rubella, toxoplasma, parvovirus B19, herpes simplex virus and pregnancy
The material is based on the fundamental works of Western scientists.
Toxoplasma, rubella, cytomegalovirus and pregnancy
Get tested for antibodies to infections at the CIR Laboratory
During pregnancy, tests are prescribed for antibodies to infections - toxoplasma, cytomegalovirus and rubella. Two types of antibodies are determined - IgG and IgM, which are used to judge the meeting with an infectious agent, as well as the time of this meeting.
The worst thing is infection during pregnancy (rubella, toxoplasma, CMV) or activation of the infection (CMV). nine0003
Often patients get an indeterminate result - a "grey" or "indeterminate" area. And they are recommended to retake the analysis in 2 weeks. You can afford it if you are just getting ready for pregnancy. But: you can’t wait during pregnancy! Such analyzes should immediately be revised by more accurate methods. .
Specific antibodies of the IgM class, in particular antibodies to rubella, are factors that circulate in the blood at extremely low concentrations. Therefore, the analyzes are not in numbers (quantitatively), but in the form of positivity (=reactivity) or negativity (=lack of reactivity). Negative and positive results are separated from each other by the so-called cutoff threshold. Indicator numbers above this threshold are considered positive, and below the threshold - negative. The zone of threshold values ± 10%) is the "zone of uncertainty".
nine0014
Rapid clarifying diagnostic methods
Two methods are used: confirmatory immunoblot tests and IgG antibody avidity test.
If you take these tests, there is no need to WAIT 2 weeks plus days for the analysis to be ready. You receive your status ON TIME.
Toxoplasma, rubella, CMV confirmatory immunoblot:
Recombinant antigens are used nine0003
- Highly sensitive and specific test!
- Sensitivity 97%
- Specificity 99%
- High resolution between negative and positive results!
- More precise identification of the age of infection
Used to confirm the results of screening tests such as ELISA or immunofluorescence assay (IFA). nine0003
Be confident in your analysis!
Why is this needed:
- accurate and timely detection will allow you to correctly determine the tactics of pregnancy management
- no need to waste time waiting for the next analysis
Doctor's tactics are determined in each specific case in different ways (preparation for pregnancy, the beginning of pregnancy, the neonatal period, etc.
)
Avidity of IgG antibodies
The time of infection can also be determined by the avidity of IgG antibodies. This test is less accurate in terms of timing than a confirmatory immunoblot test.
Low avid antibodies are found in acute, recent infection
High avid antibodies - if the infection occurred long ago.
Determining the avidity of antibodies helps the doctor assess the infection situation and decide on further actions. nine0003
Who needs a complete screening for infections?
- women in preparation for pregnancy
- pregnant women
- newborns for the diagnosis of congenital infection
Additional information: if tests were taken during pregnancy
| Toxoplasma, rubella | CMV0111 | I have immunity, no further research is needed | I have immunity. But during pregnancy, the activation of the infection is also important, so observation is required (IgM retake during pregnancy). | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IgG in low titers or gray zone, IgM negative | Testing: - IgG immunoblot method - avidity of antibodies IgG | Testing: - IgG immunoblot method - avidity of antibodies IgG | ||
| IgG positive, IgM positive | Immunity is present, further studies are not needed | Testing: - IgM immunoblot | ||
| IgG negative, IgM negative | Observation required (IgM retest during pregnancy). nine0111 | Observation required (IgM retest during pregnancy). | ||
| IgG negative, high titer IgM or gray zone | Testing: - IgM immunoblot method | Testing: - IgM immunoblot method | ||
| In the middle of pregnancy (first antibody test) IgG positive, IgM positive | Testing: - IgG immunoblot method - avidity of IgG antibodies - IgM immunoblot | Testing: - IgG immunoblot method - avidity of IgG antibodies - IgM immunoblot |
Basic information about cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Cytomegalovirus is a type of herpesvirus, which also includes human herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, Varicella-Zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus and human herpesvirus types 6, 7 and 8.
Human CMV refers to viruses that cause similar diseases in various animals. All these diseases are associated with the appearance of characteristic enlarged cells - hence the name cytomegalovirus (cyto - cell, megalo - large). The virus can replicate in various cells of the human body, but preferably these cells are fibroblasts (connective tissue cells). nine0003
In addition to causing severe birth defects, CMV can lead to a range of illnesses in children and adults.
There are three main clinical types of cytomegalovirus:
- Genital CMV infection can lead to hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of the liver and spleen), retinitis (inflammation of the retina), rash, and central nervous system involvement.
- In about 10 percent of children and adults, primary cytomegalovirus infection causes mononucleosis syndrome with fever, general malaise, atypical lymphocytosis, and pharyngitis. nine0037
- Transplant patients and HIV-infected people can develop a life-threatening disease that affects the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, retina, liver, and central nervous system.
There is an assumption that the virus has an oncogenic effect and in rare cases can transform fibroblasts.
Get tested for antibodies to infections at the CIR Laboratory
Learn more about cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Epidemiology of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection
Cytomegalovirus is distributed throughout the world, but living in poor social conditions and poor personal hygiene greatly contributes to the transmission of the microbe. Infections are common in newborns and young children. The virus can be found in milk, saliva, feces and urine. Transmission of the virus from a young child to his pregnant mother, and then to the developing fetus, has been traced. Fortunately, the virus does not spread well through casual contact, as it takes time to transmit. CMV is often sexually transmitted and is isolated from semen or cervical mucus. Once infected, a person may be a carrier of this virus for life. nine0003
Diseases caused by CMV and their clinical manifestations
Genital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection
Fetal infections range from mild to severe and disseminated.
Petechiae (pinpoint hemorrhages), hepatosplenomegaly, and jaundice are the most common manifestations. Microcephaly with (or without) cerebral calcification, intrauterine growth retardation and prematurity occur (what is it????) in 30-50 percent of cases. Laboratory abnormalities include elevated alanine aminotransferase levels, thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), hyperbilirubinemia (increased levels of bilirubin in the blood), hemolysis (destruction of blood cells), and increased cerebrospinal fluid protein levels. The prognosis for newborns with severe forms of the disease is very sad: the mortality rate is very high, and those who manage to overcome the disease face difficulties in the future in intellectual development and hearing development. nine0003
Often, genital cytomegalovirus does not manifest itself in newborns, and therefore is not treated in a timely manner, which leads to deviations in such children in various systems that manifest themselves during the first years of their life.
Perinatal CMV infection
Newborns can become infected with CMV when passing through the birth canal or through subsequent contact with mother's milk or other secretions. A large number of neonatal infections are asymptomatic. However, long-term interstitial pneumonia is associated with cytomegalovirus. Sometimes it is accompanied by the addition of other infections, such as Chlamidia trachomatis or Ureaplasma urealyticum. Slow weight gain, adenopathy, rash, hepatitis, anemia, and atypical lymphocytosis may also be associated with the disease. nine0003
Mononucleosis Syndrome
This syndrome occurs in 10 percent of people who are initially infected, and the remainder are asymptomatic in the primary infection. Patients with this syndrome are characterized by fever, general malaise, atypical lymphocytosis, and, rarely, cervical adenopathy or hepatitis.
Most patients recover without sequelae, although postviral asthenia may continue for several months.
CMV and organ transplant
CMV is considered to be one of the main pathogens complicating organ transplantation. In kidney, heart, lung, and liver transplant patients, CMV causes a variety of syndromes, including fever and leukopenia, hepatitis, pneumonitis, esophagitis, gastritis, colitis, and retinitis. The period of maximum risk is between the first and fourth months after transplantation.
CMV in people with lesions of the immune system.
Cytomegalovirus is recognized as an important parasite in HIV-infected people in whom it causes retinitis or disseminated disease. Although the incidence of serious CMV disease has decreased, the establishment of a highly active antiretroviral regimen sometimes causes acute outbreaks of CMV retinitis during the first few weeks of therapy. nine0003
Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus
The diagnosis of CMV infection cannot be made convincingly by clinical manifestations alone. Virus isolation or determination of cytomegalovirus antigens or DNA from clinical specimens is required.
In addition, it is important to monitor the rise in the level of antibodies in the blood. The virus is easily determined in the culture of fibroblasts. If the virus content is high, which is often the case with genital CMV infection, characteristic changes in the cells will be visible within a few days. But if the virus content is low, as in cytomegalovirus mononucleosis, such a diagnosis can take several weeks. Many laboratories use a method that includes centrifugation and detection of antibodies to early CMV antigen. Such a study can give results earlier than the culture method. nine0003
Tags: inflammatory diseases, genital infections
What is cytomegalovirus | H-Clinic
12/19/2019
CMV is one of the members of the herpes virus family (it also includes the causative agents of herpes simplex, chickenpox, Epstein-Barr virus).
Like many viruses of this family, it has the ability to persist in the body for life, usually without causing any symptoms, since the immune system does not allow the virus to multiply uncontrollably.
Often, it can be the cause of pathology in newborns if the mother became infected with the virus during pregnancy, or the virus was activated during this period (congenital CMV infection). nine0003
CMV is usually spread through close contact with a person who already has the virus in their body. The virus can spread through saliva, blood, urine, seminal fluid, breast milk. CMV can only be transmitted from a person whose virus is in an "active" state and is excreted in bodily fluids. This happens, for example, if:
• a person has contracted the virus for the first time – children often pass the virus on to each other through close contact in kindergarten;
• the virus "reactivated" - began to multiply uncontrollably after a certain time after the initial infection. This occurs as a result of a significant weakening of the immune system; nine0026 • if reinfection (re-infection) has occurred - the person has become infected with another subtype of CMV.
Clinical manifestations of CMV.
The most common first contact with the virus occurs in childhood. Infection does not always cause any symptoms. Some people develop an acute respiratory disease, with the following complaints:
• rise in temperature up to 38С and more;
• muscle pain;
• fatigue;
• sore throat; nine0026 • an increase in the cervical lymph nodes.
Sometimes acute CMV infection proceeds very similarly to infectious mononucleosis, in which case the following manifestations of the disease are also possible:
• rash;
• enlargement of the liver, spleen;
• an increase in other groups of lymph nodes.
In the presence of these symptoms, it is necessary to carry out differential diagnostics both directly with infectious mononucleosis and with acute HIV infection, which often occur with a similar clinic. nine0003
All clinical manifestations of the disease usually resolve within 3 weeks. In the future, the virus remains in the body, but the development of the disease is possible only in patients with a significantly weakened immune system.
In patients with HIV infection (with a decrease in CD4-lymphocytes less than 50 cells / μl), people who have undergone transplantation, receive chemotherapy for oncology, or genetically engineered drugs for autoimmune diseases, CMV can cause more serious manifestations - damage to the eyes, gastrointestinal tract, liver, nervous system, pneumonia. nine0003
Tip! Be sure to see a doctor if you have symptoms of an acute respiratory disease and:
• You are pregnant;
• you are taking drugs that weaken the immune system (eg chemotherapy for cancer, drugs for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease).
How is CMV diagnosed?
During an "active" infection, the virus can be detected in the very body fluids with which it is transmitted (saliva, blood, urine) using PCR. Also, as is the case with many other infectious diseases, diagnosis based on "indirect" criteria is possible. Upon contact of the body with any pathogen (be it a bacterium, virus or helminth), at least two types of antibodies can be produced in the blood - antibodies of the IgM class and antibodies of the IgG class.
The former are an "immediate" reaction of the human immune system to the penetration of a foreign agent (although even this relatively quick reaction sometimes takes up to 3 weeks) and usually indicate a recent infection. The second type of antibodies is aimed at the final suppression of the disease and the maintenance of immunity for a long time (sometimes for life). nine0003
Thus, positive antibodies to cytomegalovirus IgG in the blood occur in most people in adulthood. This result of the analysis only means that a person has encountered a virus and the immune system has developed a way of long-term protection against re-infection. Patients with positive IgG to CMV and with such non-specific (characteristic of a very wide range of diseases) complaints as weakness, fatigue, weight loss, periodic slight fever, a long-lasting increase in one or more groups of lymph nodes often turn to doctors (general practitioners, infectious disease specialists). . A positive CMV IgG test in such a situation should not serve as a basis for establishing a diagnosis of active CMV infection.
Such an interpretation of the tests can divert attention from the true cause of the symptoms and lead to a lack of timely therapy. nine0003
Therefore, if you are prescribed a cytomegalovirus IgG test, remember that it will only rule out or confirm that you have an infection. To decide on the need for treatment, additional examination is usually required. If you received a positive cytomegalovirus Ig G test result, this confirms the presence of the virus in the body, and does not indicate the activity of the process. In some cases, consultation with an infectious disease specialist is required, for example, to exclude active CMV infection during pregnancy.
How is CMV infection treated.
In the absence of symptoms, the presence of CMV in the body, and even more so only antibodies to the virus in people with a normally functioning immune system, does not require treatment.
Specific antiviral therapy may be required if:
• congenital CMV infection;
• in people with a severely weakened immune system.
