Prevention of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy
Cytomegalovirus (CMV), is a virus belonging to the Herpes virus family.
It can cause numerous clinical syndromes, among them is the well-known infectious mononucleosis (mono) – a disease with high fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, enlargement of the spleen and the liver, and fatigue.
Infection during pregnancy can affect the fetus and may cause the fetus to suffer from complications of congenital CMV such as low birth weight, small head (microcephaly), developmental problems, seizures, hearing loss, vision problems, and many other complications.
Therefore, prevention of Cytomegalovirus is important in avoiding complications for the baby.
What is a CMV primary infection and what is a non-primary infection?
In Israel (for an example) about 75% of women have had Cytomegalovirus during their childhood. Most of them do not know that they have had CMV because most people do not remember every fever that they have ever had.
Luckily, we know that every woman can figure out her status by doing a simple blood test during the beginning of the first trimester that checks if she has antibodies against the virus. If she has IgG antibodies – she has had CMV in the past. It means that a quarter of the women in Israel get pregnant without ever having had CMV before.
This is important because if the mother has not had CMV before pregnancy, she is not protected and can get infected during her pregnancy and infect her baby (what we doctors call primary infection). However, if the mother has had CMV, then she has antibodies against CMV, so that even if she gets infected with a different CMV (there are several CMV types) or her old CMV that is dormant in her body (like his ‘uncle’ Herpes virus) activates, the risk that the baby will get infected is low (what we doctors call non-primary infection).
How can a primary CMV infection be prevented?
Remember that we said that most of us get infected during childhood? Most pregnant women get infected by coming in contact with children, especially kindergarten aged children. And how do we know that? An Italian study published a few years ago showed that a primary infection during pregnancy can be avoided by following four simple steps:
- Washing hands with soap after taking care of children (touching, cleaning their nose, changing diapers etc).
- Washing hands after touching things that kids touched before (toys, chairs etc).
- Don’t kiss children on their mouth or cheeks. I recommend kissing them with love on their forehead.
- No sharing food, drinks, and towels with children.
Because non-primary infection may be caused by a repeated infection, these steps are useful for that as well. Non-primary infection caused by a dormant virus that has been activated cannot be prevented.
Even if it sounds a little bit tough and distant, believe me, you don’t want the emotional roller coaster of having pregnancy with CMV, even if in the end the baby is healthy.
What to do in case you were diagnosed with CMV during pregnancy.
I strongly recommend using the wonderful website of the Israeli association for CMV pregnancy. It was created by amazing women who put their blood, sweat, and tears into the website, so that pregnant women with CMV can find information and support.
My site also summarizes a new groundbreaking Israeli study about the effectiveness of a drug named Valacyclovir in preventing the baby from being infected from the mother after primary infection. Use this link in order to learn more.
Remember, preventing CMV (like other diseases) is much easier than dealing with it, so follow the simple four steps above and prevent CMV infection during pregnancy.
Stay safe, as always.
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