Cytomegalovirus medical therapy

Template:Cytomegalovirus Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

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Overview

No treatment is generally necessary for CMV infection in the healthy individual since the majority of infections resolve on their own. Antiviral drug therapy is now being evaluated in infants. Ganciclovir treatment is used for patients with depressed immunity who have either sight-related or life-threatening illnesses. Valganciclovir (marketed as Valcyte) is an antiviral drug that is also effective and is given orally. The therapeutic effectiveness is frequently compromised by the emergence of drug-resistant virus isolates. A variety of amino acid changes in the UL97 protein kinase and the viral DNA polymerase have been reported to cause drug resistance. Foscarnet or cidofovir can be given in patients with CMV resistant to ganciclovir, though foscarnet is not as well tolerated as ganciclovir.