Cytomegalovirus
Alternate Names : CMV
What are the signs and symptoms of the disease?
Symptoms primarily depend on the age of the person and
the strength of his or her immune system.
CMV may infect a healthy unborn baby while it is still in the
womb. Roughly 5% of infants who get CMV this way have serious birth
defects. These can include brain damage, growth failure, blindness, and
other defects. This problem usually occurs when a pregnant mother gets
a CMV infection for the first time during pregnancy.
When CMV happens in early childhood, it usually causes no
symptoms at all. This is thought to be the most common form of CMV infection.
During the teenage and young adult years, infection with CMV
can cause a syndrome called infectious mononucleosis,
or "mono." Mono generally causes symptoms of sore throat, fatigue, fever, and
swollen glands. These symptoms can last for weeks or even months. Most people
recover without treatment.
CMV can cause serious problems in people with weakened
immune systems. This problem is most common in people with
AIDS
or those taking drugs to suppress the immune system. People with widespread
cancer
or people who receive an organ transplant are commonly affected. Infection may
be due to a first-time infection or, more often, a reactivated infection. People
with AIDS often get an infection of the back of the eye, called the retina. This
type of infection is called
retinitis.
This may cause problems with vision. In transplant and cancer patients,
CMV usually is the cause of pneumonia or a gastrointestinal infection
that causes diarrhea.
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