Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)

June is National Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Awareness Month!

Congenital CMV is the leading non-genetic cause of childhood hearing loss. It is estimated that 1 in 3 children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in Utah have lost their hearing because of a congenital CMV infection.

CMV is the most common viral infection infants are born with in the United States. Approximately 1-4 percent of uninfected women have a primary (or first) CMV infection during a pregnancy, and about 40 percent of women who become infected with CMV for the first time during pregnancy pass the virus to their babies.

CMV affects people of all ages but most healthy individuals don’t know they have it as it is typically harmless to the general population. CMV is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids. Twenty percent of babies with congenital CMV infection will have lifelong disabilities.

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