Cytomegalovirus risk factors

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

Risk Factors

CMV infection is important to certain high-risk groups.[1] Major areas of risk of infection include pre-natal or post-partum infants and immunocompromised individuals, such as organ transplant recipients, persons with leukemia, or those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). CMV is considered an AIDS-defining infection, indicating that the T-cell count has dropped to low levels.

Most healthy people working with infants and children face no special risk from CMV infection. However, for women of child-bearing age who previously have not been infected with CMV, there is a potential risk to the developing unborn child. Contact with children who are in day care, where CMV infection is commonly transmitted among young children (particularly toddlers), may be a source of exposure to CMV. Since CMV is transmitted through contact with infected body fluids, including urine and saliva, child care providers (meaning day care workers, special education teachers, therapists, as well as mothers) should be educated about the risks of CMV infection and the precautions they can take. Day care workers appear to be at a greater risk than hospital and other health care providers, and this may be due in part to the increased emphasis on personal hygiene in the health care setting.

References

  1. Bennekov T, Spector D, Langhoff E (2004). "Induction of immunity against human cytomegalovirus". Mt. Sinai J. Med. 71 (2): 86–93. PMID 15029400.

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