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Treatment for CMV Infection in Pregnant Women and in Infants Born with CMV
Scientists are working on CMV vaccines and are looking for other ways to prevent congenital (meaning present at birth) CMV. For now, there are no treatments for pregnant women whose fetuses might be infected with CMV. Current drugs that are effective against CMV have serious side effects and are not approved for use in pregnant women.
There is some evidence that ganciclovir, an antiviral drug, may prevent hearing loss in infants born with congenital CMV. However, this drug has serious side effects and was only tested in children with severe congenital CMV symptoms. If your child has symptoms of congenital CMV, you should consult with your doctor to decide whether to try treatment.
Guidelines for Clinicians
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Perinatal viral and parasitic infections. Washington (DC): ACOG; 2000 Sep. 13. (ACOG practice bulletin; no. 20). [131 references] [Read the full text guidelines for clinicians] (exit site)
Reference
Effect of ganciclovir therapy on hearing in symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus disease involving the central nervous system: a randomized, controlled trial. J Pediatr. 2003 Jul;143(1):16-25. [Read the Medline Abstract of this paper] (exit site)
Vaccine Research
There is no available vaccine for preventing congenital (present at birth) CMV disease. However, a few CMV vaccines are being tested in humans, including live attenuated (weakened) virus vaccines and vaccines that contain only pieces of the virus. The Institute of Medicine has ranked the development of a CMV vaccine as a highest priority because of the lives it would save and the disabilities it would prevent. It may be a number of years before there is a Food Drug and Administration-approved CMV vaccine. Because CMV is not spread as easily as some other diseases, even a partially effective CMV vaccine will have a large impact on the congenital CMV disease epidemic.
Articles
Arvin AM, Fast P, Myers M, Plotkin S, Rabinovich R. Vaccine development to prevent cytomegalovirus disease: report from the National Vaccine Advisory Committee. Clin Infect Dis. 2004 Jul 15;39(2):233-9. Epub 2004 Jun 25. Review. [Read the Medline abstract of this paper.] (exit site)
Institute of Medicine (U.S.) Committee to Study Priorities for Vaccine Development: Vaccines for the 21st Century: A Tool for Decision Making. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press; 2000.
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/5501.html (exit site)
Report and Recommendations: NIDCD Workshop on Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection and Hearing Loss, March 19-20, 2002, Rockville, Maryland
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/funding/programs/hb/cmvwrkshop.asp (exit site)
P. D. Griffiths, A. McLean and V. C. Emery. Encouraging prospects for immunisation against primary cytomegalovirus infection. Vaccine. 2001 Jan 8;19(11-12):1356-62. [Read the Medline abstract of this paper.] (exit site)
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