Part II: CMV Virus

SymptomsBy Mayo Clinic staff

Most people infected with CMV but who are otherwise healthy exhibit few if any symptoms. In fact, many people never know they have the virus. The type and seriousness of a CMV infection usually depends on your overall health.
When first infected (primary CMV), some adults may have symptoms similar to mononucleosis.

Signs and symptoms of primary CMV include:
Fatigue
Weakness
Night sweats
Prolonged fever
Swollen glands or sore throat, or both
Loss of appetite or weight loss, or both
Muscle aches or joint pain or stiffness
General feeling of illness, discomfort or uneasiness
When the cause of these symptoms is CMV, you still may not know you have the virus because the symptoms are usually mild and short-lived and are also common in other illnesses.


Signs and symptoms in adults with compromised immunityIn adults who have a compromised immune system (immunocompromised adults), CMV can attack specific organs. This can result in signs and symptoms in the:
Eyes, including visual impairment and blindness
Lungs, including pneumonia with low blood oxygen (hypoxemia)
Gastrointestinal system, including diarrhea and ulcerations with bleeding
Liver, including hepatitis which is most often characterized by a prolonged, unexplained fever
Brain, including inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) with behavioral changes, seizures and coma


Symptoms in childrenIf you're pregnant and become infected with CMV for the first time, you may not experience serious illness, but it's possible to pass CMV to the fetus through the placenta. In most cases newborns don't exhibit evidence of infection at birth. Only about three newborns in 100 who are infected with CMV during pregnancy will be ill at birth. Of this 3 percent, most will be very ill and have a significant risk of permanent disabilities.
Most babies who are infected before they're born appear healthy at birth, but a fraction of those can develop signs over time — sometimes not for months or years after birth. The most common of these late-occurring signs is hearing loss. A small number may develop vision impairment as well.


Most babies born with CMV (congenital CMV) never have any signs or symptoms.
Immediate signs of CMV in newborns include:
Yellow skin and eyes (jaundice)
Purple skin splotches or a rash, or both
Small size at birth (or low birth weight)
Enlarged spleen
Enlarged and poorly functioning liver
Pneumonia
Seizures


Disabilities arising from newborn CMV include:
Hearing loss
Eye abnormalities, including central vision loss, scarring of the retina, and swelling and irritation of the eye (uveitis)
Mental disability
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Autism
Lack of coordination
Small head
Seizures
Death