Helping Children with Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

(2017, June) | Useful to Parent Centers, daycare providers, and others involved in the care of newborns and young children.
Available in English and Spanish.

When a baby is born with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, it is called congenital CMV infection. About 1 out of every 200 babies are born with congenital CMV infection. Women can pass CMV to their baby during pregnancy. The virus in the woman’s blood can cross through the placenta and infect the baby. This can happen when a pregnant woman experiences a first-time infection, a reinfection with a different CMV strain (variety), or a reactivation of a previous infection during pregnancy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only about 1 in 5 babies with congenital CMV infection will be sick from the virus or will have long-term health problems, which can include:

• Hearing loss,
• Vision loss,
• Intellectual disability,
• Small head size,
• Lack of coordination,
• Weakness or problems using muscles, and
• Seizures.

This two-article resource from the CDC consists of:

A fact sheet called Babies Born with CMV (available in English and Spanish), which discusses signs and symptoms of the virus, diagnosis, and treatment and management.

A resource page called Helping Children with Congenital CMV (also available in English and Spanish), which discusses how CMV is spread, the importance of hearing checkups and therapies for children with CMV, and the availability of more information for parents and healthcare professionals on the CMV and Congenital CMV Infection website.