Cytomegalovirus is a risk in women only during pregnancy and lowered immunity. This virus belongs to the family of herpes viruses (herpes virus type 5), and the infection that causes it - to the TORCH infections that cause serious fetal intrauterine lesions.

Cytomegalovirus women - how do you get

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a herpes virus type 5 Herpes type 5 - the cause of CMV infection That causes a disease called cytomegalovirus or CMV (the word is composed of two words: "CITO" - a cell and "Megalith" giant). The source of infection is a sick person, the infection most often occurs through kissing and sex. But it is also possible contamination by airborne droplets, through the objects, which remained the saliva or urine of the patient, in utero, with mother's milk and organ transplants Organ transplantation: Past and Present .

If you get CMV in a woman's body it affects the cell bodies concerned, turning them into giant cells with characteristic inclusions (multiply within cells by viruses). During the initial infection most commonly affects the salivary glands, and glands located in female genital mutilation. Basically this gland mucosa cervical canal.

By reducing the spread of CMV immunity possible on multiple organs and tissues - a generalized form of the disease.

Symptoms of CMV in women

Cytomegalovirus women often does not manifest. If a woman has a good immunity after infection with CMV to be ill, and the virus will remain in the body in an inactive state. Activation of the virus can occur at lower immunity against hypothermia, after any acute infectious disease, stress How to beat stress? Create an oasis During pregnancy, etc.

The most common CMV -infektsiya manifested as usual acute respiratory disease with a slight fever, cough and runny nose. But cytomegaly it has several features:

• like any other herpes infections, it is accompanied by great weakness;
• necessarily affects the salivary glands that cause excessive salivation increase in submandibular and parotid lymph nodes;
• cytomegaly lasts a long time to 1-1, 5 months.

Less CMV infection occurs with symptoms resembling mononucleosis. Cytomegalovirus in women can also be manifested as moderate amount of whitish precipitates genital tract. With low immunity CMV infection can spread to the internal genital organs - uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries, causing inflammation. Very often, these processes are complicated by additional bacterial infection that eventually leads to the formation of adhesions and infertility.

Against the background of immunodeficiency women may develop generalized cytomegaly with multiple lesions of the internal organs and the brain. This is a very serious condition that can result in the death of a woman, if she is not timely medical assistance.

The cytomegaly dangerous during pregnancy

CMV - a virus that is widely distributed, so it can be found in many women. The negative effects on the fetus CMV has only if it is in the active state, i.e. causing disease symptoms, even mild.

But the most dangerous infection of primary CMV infection during pregnancy: a woman's body has not had time to develop antibodies to the infection and the pathogen enters the body of the fetus, causing a variety of disturbances.

If a woman is infected with CMV infection before pregnancy, her body has such antibodies, and the fetus may suffer only if the activation of CMV. The real possibility of intrauterine infection in this case is negligible.

Diagnosis of cytomegalovirus women

The presence of CMV in the body can be detected by analyzing blood by PCR - this analysis only ascertains the presence of CMV in the body, but does not determine the level of activity of the virus.

Seeding of biological fluids (blood, urine, saliva, vaginal discharge) on special culture media reveals the presence of both CMV and its degree of activity.

Immunological analysis of blood (for example, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - ELISA) detects the presence of antibodies to CMV - with the help of this analysis, we can conclude how long a woman infected with CMV infection.

Treatment of cytomegalovirus women

Treatment of women cytomegalovirus carried out only if the virus somehow manifests itself. If the survey did not reveal any violations (including on the part of the reproductive system), treatment is not carried out. But she will need to live a healthy lifestyle, eat right, it is often in the fresh air, exercise and strengthen the immune system by various types of hardening.

If you have symptoms of CMV, is being treated with antiviral drugs. In the future, to strengthen immunity Strengthening the immune system - help the immune system   immunologist can prescribe drugs to restore immunity.

Galina Romanenko

Antibodies to CMV determined in human blood after infection. Depending on the class to which the antibodies are immunoglobulins can tell when the infection occurred. Is an infection of primary or recurrent rather a long-term matters during pregnancy.

Antibodies to cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin class M

After the introduction into the body of cytomegalovirus (CMV) activates the immune system, but it happens slowly enough, the virus thus has an impact on all parts of the immune system The immune system - how it works?   patient, which leads to the formation of specific antibodies to CMV immunoglobulin classes M and G (IgG and IgM).

These antibodies help to dissolve inside the tissue cells of human CMV, inhibit the intracellular multiplication and spread of the virus from cell to cell. In the blood of patients after initial infection contains antibodies reacting with internal viral proteins (IgM), and human blood recovered contained mainly antibodies reactive with the protein-carbohydrate complex shell (IgG).

The presence in the blood of IgM antibodies indicates that it is worse the primary infection (IgM concentration is high enough and stable) or exacerbation of already existing in the body of infection (IgM concentration is low and unstable). If the patient has not been previously antibodies to CMV, and then antibodies were IgM class, it is said primary infection.

But sometimes only by the presence in blood of IgM antibodies it is difficult to determine whether the primary or recurrent infection already present. The presence of IgM antibodies suggesting a primary CMV infection, but the analysis of data must be kept in mind that the IgM class antibodies to CMV can persist for up to 12-18 weeks or longer after undergoing a primary infection.

Identification of primary CMV infection is especially important for pregnant women, since the primary infection in some pregnant women may develop in utero fetal loss. In recurrent CMV infection percentage of such complications is reduced by five times or more. To verify the diagnosis in this case is determined in a blood IgG antibodies and their properties.

IgG antibodies to cytomegalovirus

To confirm a primary CMV infection in 3-4 weeks after the detection of levels of IgM antibodies by repeated measurements of blood. When primary infection occurs on the background of the appearance of IgG IgM. The presence of IgG levels without increasing the detection of IgM indicates a recurrence of existing infections. Detection of a minor amount of IgG before transferred to said infection, but does not indicate the currently relapse.

Confirmation or exclusion of primary infection is also carried out to determine the avidity atitel class IgG, that is, their ability to strongly bind to infectious agents to neutralize them. The longer the infection occurs, the higher the avidity of antibodies. In primary CMV infection IgG antibodies appear in the blood after IgM antibodies and have low avidity.

Research avidity IgG antibodies to determine the period of primary infection is currently introduced into the practice of laboratory studies on TORCH infections (the most dangerous during pregnancy infection: toxoplasmosis Toxoplasmosis: pregnant women against cats , Rubella Rubella - it is better to be vaccinated , CMV infection, infection caused by the herpes simplex virus).

In newborns and infants up to six months or more are present in the blood IgG antibodies of maternal origin, so the interpretation of the results of the study of IgG and IgG avidity in this age is difficult.

Patients with immunodeficiencies antibody levels are often very low, and to define it is impossible. In such cases, to confirm the diagnosis using PCR, which allows to identify in the body fluids of the patient CMV.

The rate of antibodies to cytomegalovirus

What is the analysis on antibodies to CMV is noma? Looking for someone. For example, no antibodies Antibodies - "soldiers' immunity   CMV in the blood of men is certainly a positive factor. This means that it is not infected with CMV and can not pass it on to their loved ones, including his wife.

But a woman who plans to continue to become a mother, the absence of antibodies to CMV can be dangerous. CMV - this is a very common virus that affects more than half the world's population. Previously uninfected women at risk "catch" CMV during pregnancy, and this is very dangerous, because in the absence of multiple antibodies increases the risk of intrauterine infection. Particularly at risk are women who already have children attending kindergarten or school - children groups the virus circulates constantly.

Galina Romanenko