cytomegalovirus

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a virus found around the world. It is related to the viruses that cause chickenpox and infectious mononucleosis (mono). Between 50% and 80% of adults in the United States have had a CMV infection by age 40. Once CMV is in a person's body, it stays there for life.

CMV is spread through close contact with body fluids. Most people with CMV don't get sick and don't know that they've been infected. But infection with the virus can be serious in babies and people with weak immune systems. If a woman gets CMV when she is pregnant, she can pass it on to her baby. Usually the babies do not have health problems. But some babies can develop lifelong disabilities.

A blood test can tell whether a person has ever been infected with CMV. Most people with CMV don't need treatment. If you have a weakened immune system, your doctor may prescribe antiviral medicine. Good hygiene, including proper hand washing, may help prevent infections.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Having HIV weakens your body's immune system. It destroys the white blood cells that fight infection. This puts you at risk for opportunistic infections (OIs). OIs are serious infections that take advantage of your weak immune system. These infections are less common and less severe in healthy people.

People who have AIDS, the most severe stage of HIV infection, have badly damaged immune systems. This puts them especially at risk for OIs. Getting certain OIs is one of the ways that people can get diagnosed with AIDS.

OIs are becoming less common in people with HIV because of effective HIV medicines. But some people with HIV still develop OIs for different reasons:

• They may not know they have HIV, so they aren't getting treatment for it
• They know that they have HIV but are not taking treatment
• Their HIV treatment may not be working properly

There are many types of OIs:

• Bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, Salmonella infection"/>, and Mycobacterium avium complex"/> (MAC)
• Viral infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1)
• Fungal infections, like yeast infections, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia"/> (PCP), and histoplasmosis
• Parasitic infections, such as cryptosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis

Having HIV can make infections harder to treat. People with HIV are also more likely to have complications from common illnesses such as the flu.

If you develop an OI, there are treatments available such as antiviral, antibiotic, and antifungal drugs. The type of medicine your health care provider prescribes will depend on which OI you have.

After the OI has been successfully treated, you may still need to take the same medicine or another medicine to prevent the OI from coming back.

The best way to prevent OIs infections is by taking your HIV medicines. Other steps you can take to help prevent OIs include:

• Avoiding exposure to contaminated food and water:
  • Don't undercooked eggs, unpasteurized dairy products or fruit juices, or raw seed sprouts
  • Don't drink water directly from a lake or river
• Talking to your provider about medicines and vaccines that prevent certain OIs
• Preventing exposure to other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by using condoms every time you have sex
• Washing your hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water after any contact with human or animal feces (poop)
• Not sharing needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment

During pregnancy, some common infections like the common cold or a skin infection do not usually cause serious problems. But other infections can be dangerous to you, your baby, or both. Some infections may lead to preterm birth and low birth weight babies. Others can cause serious illness, birth defects, and lifelong disabilities, such as hearing loss or learning problems.

Some of the infections that can be dangerous during pregnancy include:

• Bacterial vaginosis (BV)
• Group B strep (GBS)
• Hepatitis
• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• Toxoplasmosis
• Urinary tract infections
• Yeast infections
• Zika virus

To try to prevent infections:

• Don't eat raw or undercooked meat.
• Don't share food or drinks with other people.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Don't empty cat litter. Cats can transmit toxoplasmosis.
• Talk to your health care provider about vaccinations.
• If you have sex during pregnancy, use a condom every time.

If you do get an infection during pregnancy, contact your health care provider about how best to protect you and your baby. Only some medicines are safe during pregnancy.

Viruses are very tiny germs. They are made of genetic material (either DNA or RNA) inside of a protein coating. There are a huge number of viruses on earth. Only a small number of them can infect humans. Those viruses can infect our cells, which may cause disease. Some of the diseases that viruses can cause include the common cold, the flu, COVID-19, and HIV.

Viruses can be spread in different ways:

• Through droplets and particles that are breathed out by someone who has the infection. You might breathe in the droplets or particles, or they could land on your mouth, nose, or eyes.
• By touching surfaces or objects that have the virus on them and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.
• From the pregnant parent to the baby during pregnancy.
• Through contaminated food or water.
• By being bitten by an infected insect or animal.
• Through sexual contact (usually vaginal, anal and oral sex) with someone who has the infection.

Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells. They then use those cells to multiply (make copies of themselves). This process is also called replication. The process can kill, damage, or change the infected cells. Sometimes this can make you sick. The symptoms can range from mild to very severe. Other times, your immune system may be able to fight it off and you may not have any symptoms.

Each different virus usually only infects one type of cell in your body. For example, hepatitis viruses affect the cells in the liver. HIV infects a certain type of immune system cell.

For most viral infections, treatments can only help with symptoms while you wait for your immune system to fight off the virus. There are antiviral medicines to treat some viral infections. Antibiotics do not work for viral infections.

Vaccines can help prevent you from getting many viral diseases. You may be able to prevent some viral infections by:

• Proper hand washing.
• Paying attention to food safety.
• Cleaning surfaces that may be infected with germs.
• Avoiding contact with wild animals.
• Preventing insect bites by using insect repellent when you go outdoors. If you travel to an area that has a high risk of diseases from insect bites, also wear long pants, shirts, and socks.
• Practicing safe sex (using a condom every time you have anal, vaginal, or oral sex).
• Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.