Cytomegalovirus: what is it and how dangerous is the disease?

Cytomegalovirus - what is it? This question can be answered as follows. This disease is considered one of the most "young" viral diseases, as it is described and classified relatively recently - in 1956. This infection is widespread among people under the age of 40.

Researchers are still studying the disease of cytomegalovirus, what it is and how to treat it, which often causes discrepancies in the medical environment about effective methods. Modern medicine claims that the presence of infection in the body - this is not an excuse to begin therapy. If there are no censures to the immune system and pronounced symptoms of the disease, then do not worry if you have antibodies to cytomegalovirus. It should be noted that this virus can not be completely expelled from the body.

Cytomegalovirus: what is it and how does the infection occur?

In fact, cytomegalovirus is a relative of herpes simplex, as it is part of the herpesvirus family. This can also include infectious mononucleosis and chicken pox. It is found in the blood, saliva, sperm, urine, vaginal mucus and even in the tears of a person. Consequently, in close contact with these biological fluids, infection occurs. But as the tears of another person get into the body extremely rarely, then basically the disease is transmitted through sexual contact or a kiss. Pay attention that, despite its wide spread, cytomegalovirus does not belong to very infectious infections. To get infected, you need to mix your fluids with the fluids of the virus carrier for a long time. To children, this disease is transmitted through the mother's breast milk, as the virus lives in this kind of biological fluid.

Cytomegalovirus and pregnancy

Symptoms of cytomegalovirus are similar in many respects to manifestations of common colds, for this reason it is difficult for doctors to immediately detect a virus in the human body. In addition, cytomegalovirus can for a long time not give any symptoms and manifest only during the period of exacerbation.

The greatest risk of the disease is during pregnancy, so doctors recommend that all women who carry a child test themselves for infection. In medicine, there is only one reliable way to determine a virus - it's an analysis for the presence of antibodies.

The result of "cytomegalovirus negative" means that a person has not previously been infected, and therefore it is especially prone to primary infection. The presence of antibodies is not an occasion to sound an alarm, since this can indicate not only the primary infection, but also the past illness. Treatment is necessary in the case when the number of antibodies increases approximately four times. This means that the virus entered the active phase and the body began to fight it.

Cytomegalovirus in children: manifestation and course of the disease

Cytomegalovirus (what it is, described above) is found in both children and adults. But it is worth noting that children infected in the womb are diagnosed as "carriers of congenital cytomegalovirus infection." But in many cases this means absolutely nothing, since the disease may not manifest itself throughout life. In rare cases, there are temporary symptoms, such as damage to the liver, lungs, spleen. But, as a rule, the child's organism copes with them easily and does not feel any consequences of the transferred disease.

But there are more serious consequences of the disease - impaired coordination, problems with vision and hearing. Therefore, all babies with congenital cytomegalovirus should be observed for the development of vision and hearing organs, regardless of whether they have any symptoms of the disease. If in the first years of life violations in the development of these organs were found, then treatment of cytomegalovirus should be started .