CMV

[beanbag19]

Does anyone have any experience of this in pregnancy?

At about 5 weeks pregnant I was exposed to someone with CMV. We didn't know that he had CMV at the time but he was quite seriously ill with various other things and so I was wearing a mask, gloves and an apron when I saw him.

Other close family members saw him afterwards without all of the protective gear but obviously washed their hands etc and would be most unlikely to have come in to contact with any bodily fluids. However it is quite possible that one of them gave it to him in the first place.

I have now developed a sore throat, blocked nose, fever and headache, all of which are consistent with a primary CMV infection.

I saw my midwife today for the first time and explained all this to her and she has taken bloods to test for it. However the results won't be back until Friday and I'm going out of my mind worrying about congenital CMV.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

OP do you already know that you haven't had CMV before? Most adults already have CMV antibodies from previous infections. The only concern in pregnancy is catching your first or primary CMV infection. Most women have already had CMV without knowing it in the past.

I had a big CMV scare during my first pregnancy with lots of horrible waiting. Early blood test showed that my antibody levels indicated a recent primary infection with CMV. Further tests showed that the infection actually predated my pregnancy so no further testing was required. It was awful at the time as I had never even heard of CMV.

Your symptoms could also be a straightforward cold or flu too, no?

I am so sorry you have this worry - I remember it well.

Thanks LHReturns, really appreciate your reply. So glad everything was ok for you.

I don't know that I haven't already had it but I thought a recurrent infection was more likely to be symptomless, which I am most definitely not.

I am trying to tell myself that the symptoms could be a cold or similar but the timing of it has me really worried.

This illness on top of the usual pregnancy nausea has totally knocked me out. I just don't feel like I can enjoy the pregnancy at the moment because I feel so ill and I'm scared to get too excited in case something's wrong.

Clearly I have no way of knowing if you may have caught it but it isn't THAT easy to catch CMV. I don't accept you could have caught it from your friend who was unwell.

How long ago was that? And may I ask how many weeks you are now? Because one of the frustrating things, if I recall correctly, is the need to wait a maximum incubation period to see if you have had what looks like a primary infection. The only way they knew mine was older than three months (I was 12 weeks at the time) was to check my antibody levels over a three week period. If levels were still changing between tests that would have indicated that the infection was very recent as my body was still reacting to it. Luckily the levels were totally consistent indicating the infection (and my subsequent reaction to it) was more than 6 months old.

Please please take this one step at a time - there are MANY stages to pass through before anything sinister presents itself, and at each stage there are many many ways that you can find it is all a false alarm. I understand you are very scared but having been there, there are still many far more likely very happy outcomes here.

I was 5/6 weeks when I saw him, 7/8 weeks now.

Midwife didn't say anything about repeat bloods but it makes sense. She called the screening midwife to confirm the next steps but all she mentioned was that she'd take bloods now. One step at a time I suppose.

The rational part of me is telling me it's extremely unlikely given the infection control measures that were in place but still, I can't help but worry.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond LHReturns. It's strangely reassuring to hear that someone else has been in a similar situation.

Most likely outcome is that your bloods come back CMV-free. I only needed repeat bloods because my first test clearly showed a 'recent' primary infection so we had to establish just how recent.

Please will you let me know on Friday how you get on? Thinking about you and wishing all good fortune your way.

I will, thanks so much LHReturns.

Thinking of you tomorrow beanbag.

Have you survived the week ok?

Thanks LHReturns.

I've been so ill this week, basically haven't got out of bed. Anyway, I called for my results today and they're not back yet. I can try the midwife tomorrow on the off chance they've come in but otherwise it will be Monday.

I'm wondering if she just gave me the standard waiting time for results but the CMV tests take longer?

Just so desperate to know now. Thanks for thinking of me.

So sorry you are so unwell beanbag. I am now 11+2 and still heavily medicated for Hyperemesis. First trimester is SHXT.

Hang in there - you are nearer to getting reassurance than ever. Just a thought - I tend to find that bad news reaches you faster than good when it comes to pregnancy testing. No results yet could be a sign there is nothing remarkable to report.

Any news beanbag?

Unfortunately not. The midwife told me yesterday that she had chased it up and was told that the results take 7-10 days so I'm still waiting.

Just thought I'd update.

So I waited and waited for my blood results. Eventually I asked the midwife if she would call up to see what the delay was. She told me that she had asked the virologist to speak to me but she refused. She didn't really know what to do so suggested that I call the hospital I'm booked in at for advice. I called the virologist instead who very reluctantly spoke to me and was incredibly rude and condescending. She basically told me I was worrying over nothing and that the results wouldn't mean anything anyway, I should just wait and see if the baby had any problems, either at 20 weeks scan or at birth!! She then said they wouldn't test the sample because only a midwife had requested it and not a GP or obstetrician. So I called my GP who then phoned up and requested it. Results came back on Friday and showed a likely past infection but I needed a retest to be sure.

I had my booking appointment the same day and the midwife there said they should have been able to tell from one test whether it was a past or present infection so she took more bloods. Results came back yesterday and apparently I have never had CMV. She had my previous results faxed over and double checked everything because of the discrepancy but was sure of the latest results.

On the one hand I am relieved but I'm still a bit sceptical over the discrepancy. If I've never had it I just need to make sure I don't catch it now!!