Life expectancy of infants born with cytomegalovirus

Congenital cytomegalovirus is generally a disease caused by a pregnant woman being infected with cytomegalovirus during or before pregnancy, and then the fetus being infected in the mother's body. Congenital cytomegalovirus is actually the most common jaundice. Although congenital cytomegalovirus has no symptoms, parents must take their babies to the hospital regularly to check their intelligence. In daily life, if you find any symptoms of discomfort in your baby, you must take your child to the hospital in time.

How is CMV spread?

Generally speaking, there are several ways:

① Infecting the fetus through the placenta or cervix, which is the main route;

② Inhalation of secretions contaminated with activated viruses through the birth canal during birth;

③Eating breast milk containing the virus;

④Infection during blood transfusion. It should be noted that urine, saliva and other body fluids can easily become sources of infection.

Clinical symptoms of congenital cytomegalovirus infection in newborns

Among newborns infected with cytomegalovirus, approximately 25% have congenital infection, with varying degrees of severity. Among them, 50% of the sick children will show typical symptoms at birth. The most common symptoms are hepatosplenomegaly, jaundice, petechial rash, and microcephaly, followed by chorioretinitis, inguinal hernia in boys, hydrocephalus, hemolytic anemia, and pneumonia. Jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, and bleeding may disappear on their own at different times later, but neurological sequelae become apparent later and are not easy to disappear.

The mortality rate of children with severe infections can reach 30%, mainly due to multiple organ damage, severe liver dysfunction, bleeding, and concurrent bacterial infections, most of which occur in the neonatal period. Of the children who survive, 90% will suffer from various disabilities, including mental and motor disabilities, intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, visual impairments, language impairments, learning difficulties and paralysis.

Some children have no symptoms at birth and have a better prognosis. Among them, 10~15% of the children will develop the above-mentioned sequelae within 2 years after birth, but the degree is relatively mild.

Detection and diagnosis of cytomegalovirus infection in newborns

Generally speaking: the specific antibodies for detecting cytomegalovirus infection are IgG and IgM positive. If IgM is positive, it indicates a recent cytomegalovirus infection and that the infection is ongoing. If the IgG test is positive, it means that the person was infected some time ago and antibodies are already present in the body.

If your baby is IGM positive now (some may have false positives, which require detailed laboratory analysis), the best treatment is ganciclovir. As for how long it will take to be cured, it is uncertain and the hospital will know based on the baby's daily condition and treatment process.

As for the baby's lack of obvious symptoms, it means that the virus may be lurking in the body. Under certain circumstances, it may become active again and cause reinfection, but there will be no sequelae.

Congenital CMV infection can be diagnosed based on clinical findings such as jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, petechiae, and maternal CMV infection during pregnancy. When diagnosis is difficult, some tests can be used to help with diagnosis, such as culturing viruses in urine and saliva, and testing for cytomegalovirus antibodies in serum.