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Cytomegalovirus Infections

James B. Hanshaw MD1
 1 Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, Medical Center of Central Massachusetts, Worcester, MA.

The term cytomegalovirus (CMV) was proposed by Weller and his colleagues in 1960 to replace the names cytomegalic inclusion disease and salivary gland virus for two reasons: 1) the virus usually involved other organs, and 2) the term salivary gland virus had been used to designate unrelated agents that were recovered from bats.

Cytomegaloviruses belong to the class of herpesviruses, which includes the herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human herpesvirus 6, the cause of roseola, and human herpesvirus 7, a virus in search of a disease. These viruses are known for their wide distribution in humans and a propensity for latency and reactivation during the lifetime of the host.

There apparently are no clearly distinct CMV serotypes, but strain differences have been noted in cross-neutralization tests and by molecular analysis of CMV viral DNA. Restriction enzyme analysis of DNA from CMV isolates has proven to be of great value in our understanding of the epidemiology of CMV infection because of the striking similarity of DNA fragments from common sources.

Epidemiology

CMV infection is ubiquitous, and evidence of seroconversion has been found in all populations tested to date. Antibody prevalence is influenced by age, socioeconomic group, geography, and cultural practices.




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K. A. Voudris, E. A. Vagiakou, S. Mastroyianni, Y. Dimitriou, and A. Skardoutsou
Infantile Spasms in an Infant With Cytomegalovirus Infection Treated With Ganciclovir
J Child Neurol, January 1, 2004; 19(1): 50 - 53.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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