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WHAT IS CYTOMEGALOVIRUS?

CMV is a common virus that approximately 50% to 80% of adults in America have by the time they are 40 years
of age. It is often asymptomatic, meaning showing no symptoms. CMV is a virus in the herpesvirus family, a
group of related viruses that includes Epstein-Barr Virus (mononucleosis virus) and Varicella Virus (the virus
that causes chickenpox)." When CMV is contracted as a child or an adult, it is essentially harmless. A person
will subsequently build immunity to the virus once they have contracted it. However, there are circumstances
when the CMV virus can have disabling, even fatal, consequences. This happens when the virus infects an
immune compromised patient, such as a transplant patients, or when the virus infects an unborn baby.

WHAT IS CONGENITAL CMV?

Congenital CMV is the most common congenital (meaning present at birth) infection in the United States.
Congenital CMV is the term used in the situation when a newborn infant is positive for the CMV virus at the time
of birth, meaning that the virus was contracted with the baby was still in the womb. The virus is transmitted to
the unborn child via the placenta. The virus then enters the unborn baby's system, where it can have
devastating, even fatal, effects on the developing infant. The brain of the unborn baby is particularly targeted
by the virus, and infection results in a wide range of neurodevelopmental disabilities
such as those listed in the paragraph below.

WHAT DISABILITIES CAN CMV CAUSE IN BABIES AND CHILDREN?

Many babies are born with no apparent symptoms of congenital CMV. The symptoms can appear at birth or
later on as the baby develops. For example, the hearing loss often associated with congenital CMV may occur
months, if not years, after the baby's birth! And while the majority of babies born positive to congenital CMV
never develop symptoms or disabilities, there are still over 8, 000 babies each year in the United States
that will be disabled due to this virus. One out of every 750 children born in the U.S. are born
with or will become permanently disabled because of congenital CMV!

The brain of the unborn baby is particularly targeted by the virus, and infection results in a wide range of
neurodevelopmental disabilities, including deafness, microcephaly (small brain), cerebral palsy, blindness or
retinal scarring, mental retardation, and seizures. Other developmental disabilities, such as autism, may be
due to CMV infection. Tragically, the most severely affected babies may not survive the effects of
congenital infection. There are approximately 400 fatal cases of CMV each year in the United States.

HOW IS CMV SPREAD?

CMV is spread through contact with human bodily fluids, such as urine, tears, blood and saliva. As with many
other viruses, it may take only brief casual contact with a contaminated surface, object, or person to acquire
the infection. For example, all it may take is sharing a glass or eating utensil with an individual who is actively
contagious with CMV, or kissing a young child who has CMV virus in his/her saliva on the mouth, and the virus
can be transmitted. In fact, it is common for women to contract the virus for the first time from their toddlers or
pre-school aged children, who in turn have acquired the infection from other children at school or in group
day-care. The consequences of a primary (first time) CMV infection in a young woman can be tragic if she is
pregnant at the time acquiring the virus. Thus, women who have not been exposed to CMV and have young
children (or work with young children) are at higher risk if they are considering a future pregnancy, particularly
if their young children attend group daycare. Keep in mind, half of all expectant mothers in the U.S. have never
contracted CMV, therefore have never built any immunity to the virus. This puts their unborn baby at risk.

WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD OF CMV BEFORE NOW?

In short, there is no answer. One of the primary missions of the Brendan B. McGinnis Congenital CMV
Foundation is to educate women about CMV since many of the physicians have clearly failed to do so.
As well, we aim to change this lack of CMV education in the OB-GYN community and have
CMV counseling and testing become a standard part of every woman's care prior to pregnancy.

Now that you do know about CMV, please help us to educate women
by sharing what you know and sharing this website with others.

The Brendan B. McGinnis Congenital CMV Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) dedicated
to raising public awareness about congenital CMV, to raise donations to support research
for a vaccine for CMV, and to affect change in the medical community so that physicians
will begin to test women for CMV prior to pregnancy. Ultimately, our mission is to save
babies yet to be born from suffering the often devastating consequences of congenital
CMV by eradicating this common but potentially life-altering virus.

Brendan B. McGinnis
Congenital CMV Foundation

If you are considering having a baby,
you need to know about congenital
cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection !

About Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

Public Awareness and Vaccine Research Support. Working Together to Eradicate Congenital CMV Disease.

Member of the External Partner Group, in conjunction with the National Center on Birth Defects and
Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)