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What is cCMV?

  • CMV or cytomegalovirus is "the most common virus most people never heard of" (Demmler-Harrison).
  •  More than half of the US population has had a CMV infection by 40 years old (CDC).
  • It is typically harmless and can cause cold-like symptoms; 90% of adults and many children show no symptoms at all.
  • When a baby is born with a CMV infection, it is called congenital CMV (cCMV).

Why should we care about cCMV?

About 1 out of every 200 babies is born with congenital CMV infection. Of these babies, around 1 in 5 will have long-term health problems such as:

▪ Hearing loss
▪ Mental disabilities
▪ Physical disabilities
▪ Vision loss
▪ Seizures
▪ Cerebral palsy
▪ Death

Who is at risk for cCMV?

  • All pregnant individuals, but especially…
    • Those who have young children in the home.
    • Childcare workers, early interventionists, early childhood providers.
    • Healthcare workers.

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Check OUt our latest news

Cytomegalovirus lies dormant in most US adults and is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, but few have heard of it

Yahoo News, May 2023
"While some birth centers provide early CMV testing, most U.S. states do not mandate newborn CMV screening. My team and I surveyed 33 hospitals in Massachusetts from late 2020 to early 2021 and found that less than half are consistently screening infants for cCMV infection. Of those, only a few have a written testing protocol. Only two hospitals performed cCMV screening on all infants admitted to the newborn nursery."