Brendan B. McGinnis Congenital CMV Foundation About 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)

Brendan B. McGinnis Congenital CMV Foundation |

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.

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

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

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 approximately

6,000 to

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.

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,

intellectual disability

, 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

, semen

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 in his/her saliva on the

mouth,

and the

virus can be transmitted. In fact, it is

not un

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,

over

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

. Our foundation also

aim

encourage the

OB-GYN

community

to have

CMV counseling and testing become a standard part of every woman's care prior to

pregnancy.

About Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

educate women by sharing what you know
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