Cytomegalovirus secondary prevention

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

Secondary Prevention

Recommendations for pregnant women with regard to CMV infection:

• Laboratory testing for antibody to CMV can be performed to determine if a women has already had CMV infection.
• Women who develop a mononucleosis-like illness during pregnancy should be evaluated for CMV infection and counseled about the possible risks to the unborn child.
• Recovery of CMV from the cervix or urine of women at or before the time of delivery does not warrant a cesarean section.
• The demonstrated benefits of breast-feeding outweigh the minimal risk of acquiring CMV from the breast-feeding mother.
• There is no need to either screen for CMV or exclude CMV-excreting children from schools or institutions because the virus is frequently found in many healthy children and adults.

Patients without CMV infection who are given organ transplants from CMV-infected donors should be given prophylactic treatment with valganciclovir (ideally) or ganciclovir and require regular serological monitoring to detect a rising CMV titre, which should be treated early to prevent a potentially life-threatening infection becoming established.