Overview
Introduction
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common herpesvirus. After primary infection, it remains latent for life and may reactivate when immune defenses are impaired.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common herpesvirus. After primary infection, it remains latent for life and may reactivate when immune defenses are impaired. Most healthy people have no symptoms or develop a self-limited mononucleosis-like illness; the major clinical consequences occur when infection involves a fetus or newborn or when an immunocompromised patient develops end-organ disease. The practical nurse should connect three details: the patient's host status, the likely site of disease, and the timing of exposure or testing. A newborn with petechiae and a failed hearing screen needs time-sensitive congenital CMV testing. A patient with advanced HIV or a transplant history who reports new floaters may have sight-threatening retinitis. A patient receiving valganciclovir instead requires close surveillance for marrow suppression and renal injury. CMV is spread through infected body fluids, not casual airborne contact, so prevention and isolation decisions depend on the actual route of exposure.