How is cmv passed

Please sign in or sign up for a March of Dimes account to proceed. Cytomegalovirus also called CMV is the most common infection passed from pregnant people to babies during pregnancy. If you get infected with CMV during pregnancy, it may cause pregnancy loss or serious health problems in your baby, including preterm birth or low birthweight, or hearing loss at birth or later in life.

Cytomegalovirus also called CMV is a common virus that infects people of all ages. Once CMV is in your body, you have it for the rest of your life. The virus can reactivate and cause another infection. You can also be re-infected with a different strain variety of the virus. But CMV can cause serious health problems for some, including:.

CMV is the most common infection passed from pregnant people to babies during pregnancy. One in 3 pregnant people passes the infection on to their babies. If you have CMV during pregnancy, the virus in your blood can pass through the placenta to your baby.

The placenta supplies the baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord. One in babies in the U. A baby also may get infected after birth if they come in contact with infected body fluids. CMV is part of the family of herpes viruses. You also can get infected again with a different strain of the virus. Signs and symptoms of CMV can be different in healthy people, babies and people with weak immune systems. CMV sometimes can cause hepatitis and mononucleosis mono.

Hepatitis is a disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. Mono is a disease that can cause extreme fatigue, head and body aches, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes and swollen spleen or liver. People with weakened immune systems who get CMV can have more serious problems that can affect the eyes, lungs, liver, esophagus, stomach and intestines.

The esophagus is the tube that connects the mouth and stomach. The intestines are long tubes that help your body break down digest food. Contact your health care provider if you have the symptoms of mono while pregnant. These include:.

Body fluids that can contain CMV include:. If you have a CMV infection during pregnancy, you have a 1-in-3 chance 33 percent of passing it to your baby. If you were infected with CMV before you got pregnant, the chance of passing it to your baby drops to about 1 in More than half of adults have had a CMV infection by the time they are 40 years old, and about 1 to 4 in people 1 to 4 percent get infected with CMV for the first time during pregnancy.

You can pass CMV to your baby at any time during pregnancy. But you are more likely to pass it on if you get infected for the first time during pregnancy or if a past CMV infection becomes active again, especially in the third trimester.

You also can pass CMV to your baby during labor and birth, or while nursing. If you had a CMV infection before you got pregnant, you can still pass it to your baby, but this is rare. If you're healthy, CMV mainly stays dormant. When the virus is active in your body, you can pass the virus to other people. The virus is spread through body fluids — including blood, urine, saliva, breast milk, tears, semen and vaginal fluids.

Casual contact doesn't transmit CMV. CMV is a widespread and common virus that can infect almost anyone. Complications of CMV infection vary, depending on your overall health and when you were infected. Rarely, CMV causes a healthy adult to develop mononucleosis. Other rare complications for healthy adults include problems with the digestive system, liver, brain and nervous system.

An infant whose mother first became infected with CMV during pregnancy is more likely to experience complications. Complications for the baby can include:. Careful hygiene is the best prevention against CMV.

You can take these precautions:. If you have weakened immunity, you may benefit from taking antiviral medication to prevent CMV disease. Experimental vaccines are being tested for women of childbearing age. These vaccines may be useful in preventing CMV infection in mothers and infants, and reducing the chance that babies born to women who are infected while pregnant will develop disabilities.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Sometimes it causes problems in babies if you get it during pregnancy congenital CMV.

CMV is related to the herpes virus that causes cold sores and chickenpox. But CMV can cause serious health problems in some babies who get the virus before birth, and in people who have a weakened immune system.

It can be passed on through sexual contact and contact with other body fluids including saliva, blood, breast milk, tears, pee and poo. Pregnant women can pass an "active" CMV infection on to their unborn baby. Even babies without clear symptoms are at risk for congenital hearing loss. CMV is the most common cause of non-genetic hearing loss at birth. CMV infections that happen in kids after the newborn period usually don't cause serious illness.

But some kids may develop pneumonia , hepatitis inflammation of the liver , or a rash. Older kids and teens who are infected may have mono-like symptoms, including tiredness, muscle aches, headache , fever , and an enlarged liver and spleen.

These symptoms tend to be mild and usually last only 2 to 3 weeks. CMV can cause serious infections in people who have had organ transplants or those with weakened immune systems. CMV does not always cause symptoms. If it does, how long they last can vary. This depends on how the infection happens and the age and general health of the person who has it.

For example, a serious CMV infection before birth may cause lifelong developmental problems. But CMV infection in teens may last only 2 to 3 weeks and cause no lasting problems. Once a person has the infection, the virus stays in the body, lying dormant not active.

It can become "reactivated" come back weeks or years later.