June is national CMV (congenital cytomegalovirus) Awareness Month, and stopcmv.org”™s Action Network has been working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reach and teach women of child-bearing age how to prevent one of the leading viral causes of birth defects.
According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30,000 children are born every year with CMV infection; approximately 1 in 750 children is born with or develops permanent disabilities as a result. Every hour, a child becomes disabled due to CMV, according to the CDC.
CMV is a member of the herpesvirus family, sharing the similar characteristic of a latency period within the body, similar to chicken pox.
Women with small children of their own ”“ or those who care for young children ”“ need to be particularly vigilant. Not washing hands after coming into contact with an infant or toddler”™s bodily fluids ”“ even if it is handling a cookie that a young child has taken a bite of and then spits out ”“ can pass the disease to another person without ever knowing it.
OB/GYNs can easily determine through a simple blood test if their patient has ever had CMV.
Lisa Saunders, who handles campus communications for Rockland Community College in Suffern, is painfully aware of the damage CMV can do.
After a “perfect pregnancy,” Saunders”™ daughter Elizabeth was born with what doctors told her was one of the worst cases of CMV they had ever encountered. Her daughter had cerebral palsy, epilepsy and was mentally, visually and hearing impaired. To the amazement of doctors, Saunders”™ daughter, with the help of her family and a core group of loving caregivers, lived for 16 years, something doctors at the time of her birth considered an impossible task.
Saunders became deeply involved with CMV awareness as a result of her life-changing experience, writing a book about life as a parent of a child with CMV titled, “Anything but a Dog!” and will be one of the foundation”™s speakers at its upcoming convention in Paris in September.
