Cytomegalovirus infection (CMV) is a viral infection that rarely causes obvious illness. The virus that causes CMV is part of the herpes virus family and, like other herpes viruses, may become dormant for a period of time and then be reactivated. CMV affects young children mainly, but it is estimated that by age 30 in the United States, half of all adults are, or have been, infected. The virus can pass from an infected, pregnant mother to her child through the shared blood supply (umbilical cord).
Cytomegalovirus infection has increased in the United States in recent years, possibly because of the increased use of daycare facilities. Recent studies of the percent of children with CMV virus in daycare facilities compared to the percent of children with CMV who are cared for at home found that about 60% of the children in daycare facilities have CMV compared to only 20% of the children cared for at home. If a woman is infected during pregnancy, fetal infections known as cytomegalic inclusion disease (CID) can occur.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, eighty-seven percent of children with CID develop complications. Thirty-one percent have serious sensorineural hearing loss, and sixty-two percent have some degree of mental retardation.
Perinatal CMV infection is common. It occurs in eight to thirteen percent of healthy newborns in the United States, and fourteen to eighteen percent of sick or premature infants. Healthy full-term infants rarely have symptoms and are at lesser risk of long-term effects. In contrast, symptoms are common in premature and sick full-term infants and may include pneumonia, hepatitis, hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and fever.
That is all true, but in Bryan’s case he was a healthy unborn, when I caught the virus his dad brought home from Nam. Acted like the flu, Bryan was a normal delivery, beat the doc, OB nurse delivered him, just a few days early, not unusual as all mine were a few days early. That is not a exact science after all.
When he was born he barely weighed 4 lbs, nurse kept thinking he was a preemie. Seemed healthy other wise. I knew when he was conceived. R & R just 3 months after the first 1. Same doc, so he knew too. Virus just over whelmed his to immature system as a newborn, he lived 33 days. 44 yrs ago it was very rare.