Providing cytomegalovirus information it is worthy to tell about transmission and prevention of the infection. CMV infection transmits from one person to another. In order to transmit the infection it is necessary to perform a close contact with the infected person who excretes the virus in his urine, saliva or in some other body fluids. There are a lot of ways of the infection transmission. They are through sexual contact, through transplanted organs, through breast milk and sometimes via blood transfusions.
Cytomegalovirus information notes that the virus is not very contagious. It has been spread in the day care centers and in the households. So, it usually happens with young children. It is possible to prevent the infection. It is just necessary to avoid close contacts with people because they may be the bearers of the virus. It is also recommended to be very careful while handling children or diapers. In order to clean the hands of the virus it is enough to wash the hands with water and soap.
Cytomegalovirus information tells that it is children and infants who have the infection more often than others. But as a rule the infection has no symptoms. That is why a lot of doctors are sure that there is no need to keep the child at home, away from school or institution.
One of the most important items in cytomegalovirus information is the necessity to screen children and other patients for CMV. Children who are infected do not require any exclusion, isolation and any special handling. Instead, it is recommended to perform effective hygiene and sufficient care of children.
There are some circumstances when cytomegalovirus infection can become a real problem. They are pregnancy and childcare. First of all, it is the case of pregnancy. It does not mean that pregnant women are at special risk of the infection. When a woman gets infected she has no any symptoms or may have some resembling mononucleosis. It is her unborn baby who is at risk of the congenital CMV condition.
There are two problems for the children. The first risk the infection represents to the infant is the symptoms, which may range from some enlargement of the spleen and liver to death. The child can survive if appropriate supportive treatment is performed. Nevertheless, most of them are going to have some complications in the first years of life. The complications may be: vision impairment, mental retardation, and hearing loss.
The second risk is asymptomatic. It means that the child will have no symptoms of the infection, though he will have various problems of mental, hearing and coordination activity.
As usual these are the risks for those women who have not been ill with CMV and their first virus of CMV occurred right during pregnancy. But not all new-born are going to develop the infection. And only 10-15% of those infected children are likely to have some symptoms.
It is also possible that the child may get cytomegalovirus infection through the contact with the genital secretions of the woman or a little later via breast milk. Nevertheless, these infections are not likely to result in the clinical illness of the child.