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Congenital cytomegalovirus infections in sub‐ S aharan A frica – a neglected and growing problem
Author(s) -
Bates Matthew,
Tembo John,
Zumla Alimuddin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.12317
Subject(s) - cytomegalovirus , immunology , immunosuppression , human cytomegalovirus , medicine , in utero , pregnancy , virology , pediatrics , herpesviridae , virus , viral disease , biology , fetus , genetics
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is ubiquitous and is\udone of the most common viral infections of humans. It\udbelongs to the ‘herpes’ family of viruses and encodes over\ud160 proteins, many of which have immunomodulatory\udfunctions. CMV infection can be acquired at any age,\udand most initial infections go unnoticed, although some\udindividuals develop ‘glandular fever’-like symptoms,\udwhich usually resolve (Mocarski et al. 2007). Like all\udherpesvirus infections, once a person acquires primary\udinfection, CMV remains in a latent viable form within\udthe body from which it may periodically reactivate under\udcircumstances of immunosuppression. CMV causes two\udwell-established serious clinical problems that are of\udmajor public health importance worldwide: (i) congenital\udCMV infections due to primary maternal CMV infection\udsubsequently transmitted in utero or through breast milk\udor saliva up to 3 weeks post-partum and (ii) multisystem\uddisease in immunosuppressed patients (Mocarski et al.\ud2007)