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People Who Work with Infants and Children
CMV infection is very common in day care settings, but CMV usually does not harm the children who become infected. Adults who have not had CMV and who work with children in day care, especially children 1 to 2 ½ years of age, are at high risk for CMV infection. Such adults face little risk of getting seriously sick from CMV infection. However, pregnant women who become infected with CMV are at high risk of passing the infection to their fetuses. Pregnant mothers who have young children in day care or who work in day care centers may help prevent getting infected with CMV by practicing good hygiene (such as hand washing shown via this video) and by avoiding direct contact with saliva through behaviors such as kissing young children on the lips.
Since CMV is spread through contact with infected body fluids, including urine and saliva, child care providers (meaning day care workers, special education teachers, therapists, and mothers) should be educated about the risks of CMV infection and the precautions they can take that may reduce their risk of infection. Day care workers appear to be at a greater risk of becoming infected with CMV than hospital and other health care providers, and this may be due in part to the increased emphasis on personal hygiene (such as hand washing) and the lower amount of personal contact in the health care setting
Recommendations for individuals providing care for infants and children:
- Female employees should be educated about CMV and how it is spread and about hygienic practices, such as handwashing, that may reduce the risk of CMV infection.
- Non-pregnant women of childbearing age who have never been infected with CMV (or unsure if they have been) and who are working with infants and children should not be routinely moved to other work situations to avoid CMV infection.
- Pregnant women working with infants and children should be informed of the risk of getting CMV infection, the possible effects on the unborn child, and appropriate strategies that may reduce their risk of infection.
- Routine laboratory testing for CMV antibody (immune protein) in female workers is not currently recommended. However, female workers who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should be informed that a CMV antibody test can help them assess their risk. Whenever possible, CMV seronegative (without CMV antibodies) pregnant women should consider working in a setting with less exposure to young children.
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