Has anyone heard of CMV?

[PurpleIvy44]

Not to freak you out since we have enough to worry about but has anyone hear of this or had it? I'm going to ask at my next Dr. appointment.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...e-disabilities-infection-caught-children.html

They say ways to prevent it is to not do the following with any children you currently have: "not sharing their food and not using the same cutlery even if only to finish off what is left on their plate. Other simple steps include not kissing them on the faces and thoroughly washing hands after nappy changing."

That's impossible, not kiss my DD face!?

 

[mysteriouseye]

I caught it apparently when I was a child.. its had no impact on my life =) xx

 

[BabyRuby11]

I have heard of it but it really isn't very common at all. I caught it when I was 17 weeks pregnant and was never around children so have no idea how I caught it. But at the time I caught it (obviously didn't know this at the time) i developed what I thought was a cold and felt really rough with it. It was probably the CMV virus that was causing me to feel so ill.

I really wouldn't worry about it. Just wash your hand all the time before eating etc.

 

[Jessicahide]

Sounds like a load of fluff to me!

 

[icegurl470]

I have not been exposed to mono or either type of HSV so I was told I would have to steer clear of any outbreak while pregnant because it could cause complications. Both are pretty common, so most woman already have antbodies for them. I imagine this is probably like that. Yet another thing to worry about I guess

 

[Hit Girl]

If only this was a load of fluff!

CMV is very very serious. It should be one of the most talked about things when you get pregnant but it isn't. A close friend of ours attended a global conference recently on CMV - it is in fact the leading cause of deafness and various other disabilities in children. Why did our friend attend this conference? Because his wife contracted CMV while she was pregnant and their little girl was born deaf, with a much smaller head size and parts of her brain are underdeveloped. She has since had 2 cochlear implants and attends regular appointments with a few different specialists. Our friends have been told that their little girl got off very lightly with her congenital CMV - babies can be affected much worse than that which is a very scary thought.

My husband and I wouldn't have known about CMV if it weren't for them. The thing is, most people have already had the virus (usually when they were younger) and have some degree of immunity to it. The concern is when a person has never had it before and has zero antibodies. I decided to get tested before we tried for #2 and it turns out I'm one of the 'lucky' ones who has never had it before. On a whim, my husband decided to get tested (even though his doctor was certain he would have had it already) and he's never had it either!!

As soon as I got pregnant with #2 I contacted my son's kindy and told the director. You see, little people under the age of 5 are the most likely carriers of CMV. When I told her I had tested negative for CMV I was very surprised to hear that she knew all about the virus and strongly recommended that I pull my little guy out while I was pregnant (I could do this as he was only going once a week) and said that I should stay away from daycare centres if I can.

Not kissing your little one on their face and avoiding daycares may sound extreme, but it's only if you're pregnant your test for CMV shows that you have zero antibodies... and believe me the consequences for being complacent and thinking it's a load of rubbish are far worse.

My advice? Get tested to see if you've had CMV already.

 

[BabyRuby11]

You're right hit girl it isn't a load of fluff unfortunately. Like I said I contracted it at 17 weeks pregnant with my first pregnancy and I lost that baby at 21 weeks. I am now lucky that I have had the virus and am now immune but if you haven't had it then it is something to be cautious about.

 

[PurpleIvy44]

Very interesting, thanks for the replies. I am definitely going to speak to my Dr about it. So odd that they wouldn't even mention it to pregnant women if is that harmful. I can't avoid day care b/c that's where my DD goes while we work.

What would be the symptoms for a pregnant woman? Like you had a cold? The article didn't really say much.

Who knows but with her being in daycare for almost 2 yrs now I would suspect that she's already had it as well as myself but I will be looking into it for sure.

Thanks!