cytomegalovirus (CMV Anyone know about this?

[Deebee90]

Bit of a random one and thanks to the steroids I’m on I’m currently wide awake and googling frantically. I’ve been in hospital the last few days for a flare up of my bowel disease. They ran countless bloods and I’ve been checking the results online tonight.

one Of them is cytomegalovirus (CMV which I tested positive for. Never heard of it and from what I can see it’s contracted through being near kids etc which I’m not.

does anyone have this ? Im hoping to try to conceive this year and reading horror stories about this has scared me off. I’m so lost .

More people than not catch it at some point. Some people get it without any symptoms, some get a flu like illness, some have a glandular fever like illness. The main problem is if you catch it whilst actually pregnant, as then it can affect the baby. But you aren’t pregnant yet, so you would expect zero affect upon any future pregnancy.

It's part of the herpes/zoster family, like a cold sore, chicken pox etc. I wouldn't worry because loads of people have this, it sits dormant most of the time like chicken pox which occasionally wakes up with shingles issues for people, or cold sore coming out etc

Is it an active infection, or has the blood test just picked up evidence of previous exposure?

Did you test positive for the virus, or for antibodies to the virus, indicating a previous infection?

It’s almost certainly the latter, and 50-60% of the UK population falls into this category (30 million plus people). If this was actually a significant cause of birth defects, we’d all be much more aware of it and would personally know impacted families.

The fact that you hadn’t even heard of this virus before when it is so common shows you that it’s not something you need to worry about.

i mean I have some of the symptoms now but I think it was just picked up from a previous exposure. Who knows though.

CMV IgG Final Interpretation
View trends
Normal value:
Value
Positive

CMV IgM
View trends
Normal value:
Value
Equivocal

CMV IgG Avidity
View trends
Value
High

that’s my blood test results. It’s all strange . Tried asking one of the doctors on the ward and he had no idea just said speak to gynae so I will if I see them.

Once you’ve had CMV, you’re safe to become pregnant. Most people have had it. The problem with CMV only arises if you contract it for the first time during your pregnancy.

They test for it in other countries, not in UK for some reason.

Thank you. I’ve no idea why they tested for it as I’m in the uk but they did a whole barrel of tests on me.

I couldn’t read and run on this one as I’m on a mission to raise CMV awareness at the moment. I’m afraid as I’m not a medical professional I can’t comment on your antibody results, but if you are thinking of TTC, your doctor may advise you to wait until your infection is cleared, depending on how recent it is. It shouldn’t pose any risks to your health though, it’s very mild.

I know this because I’m one of the unlucky few who did get primary CMV in early pregnancy, and lost my baby to it much later in the pregnancy very recently. I can’t try again til I know the virus has cleared. I wish someone had warned me about the risks.

I hope you feel better soon. And it’s actually a very good thing if you’ve had it now as you’ll be protected in pregnancy.

I caught CMV when I was actually pregnant, about 2 months into the pregnancy and my child is severely disabled. I was only impacted as I caught it whilst I was actually pregnant, as you have already had the active virus before you’re even trying to conceive you will be ok as your body will build up anti bodies.

for example, in Germany, if you don’t have antibodies but are pregnant, you might be put on sick leave from work if your work carries an enhanced risk of contracting it (e.g. you’re a nursery nurse who changes nappies, wipes noses etc)