Patient Information Centre For Reproductive Medicine Cytomegalovirus (CMV) What

patient information centre for reproductive medicine cytomegalovirus (cmv) what is cmv? cytomegalovirus (cmv) is a common vir

Patient Information

Centre for Reproductive Medicine
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
What is CMV? Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common viral infection
occurring throughout the world. It is most often seen in children
causing a flu-like illness. In Europe 60% of people have had the
infection by the time they reach adulthood. After the initial
infection, the virus remains dormant within that person’s body for
life. It is unusual for recurrent infection to occur.
How do I know if I have had CMV or not? A blood test indicates whether
a person has an acute infection or a past infection with CMV and
developed antibodies to it. Once a person has been infected they will
always be “CMV positive”. If a person has never been infected they are
called “CMV negative”.
How can you catch CMV? Transmission of CMV occurs from person to
person and requires close contact. Although CMV is not highly
contagious it can be secreted in the bodily fluids of a CMV positive
person. It can be found in the urine, saliva, blood, tears, semen and
breast milk.
CMV and pregnancy? Congenital (from birth) infection of CMV happens
sometimes when a pregnant woman is infected with CMV for the first
time. As she has no immunity to CMV, the virus can cross the placenta
to infect her baby. This occurs in about 1 in 1800 babies born in
England and Wales each year. Nine out of ten babies infected in this
way will not suffer complications and will develop normally. The small
number of babies that do develop CMV-related complications usually
survive, however they may suffer hearing loss, vision impairment and
varying degrees of mental handicap.
CMV and egg/embryo donation? We screen all egg and embryo donors and
recipients for CMV. With egg/embryo donors there is no evidence that
CMV could be transmitted with the egg/embryos because in the
laboratory the embryologists wash the eggs and strip away the
surrounding cells. Only the embryos and no white blood cells are
transferred into the recipient. This means that the risk of passing on
CMV through egg/embryo donation is negligible.
Even when we use CMV negative donors with negative recipients they are
still vulnerable to CMV infection from the community or from a CMV
positive partner. There is no difference in pregnancy rates between
CMV negative recipients using CMV negative donors and CMV negative
recipients that use CMV positive donors.
On this basis our policy is that CMV negative egg/embryo recipients
can be matched to a CMV positive egg/embryo donor with informed
consent.
CMV and sperm donation? All sperm donors and recipients are screened
for CMV. Ideally for treatment with donor sperm we match a CMV
negative recipient with a CMV negative donor. This is because semen
contains a number of white blood cells which could give a risk of a
CMV negative recipient contracting CMV. However the risk of CMV
transmission when washed and prepared sperm is used, as is the case in
our practice, is likely to be very low. Given that the availability
and choice of donor sperm has significantly reduced it may not be
possible to match a CMV negative recipient woman with sperm from a CMV
negative donor. In this case the option of receiving sperm from a CMV
positive donor may be discussed together with the likely very small
risk of acquiring CMV.
References:
Witz Craig A et al Is there a risk of cytomegalovirus transmission
during in vitro fertilisation with donated oocytes? Fertility and
Sterility Feb 1999. Vol 71. No 2; p302-307
Forbes BA. Acquisition of Cytomegalovirus infection: an update,
Clinical Microbiological Reviews. Apr 1989; p 204-216.
If you require any further information please contact the nurses
helpline on 024 76 96 8856
The Trust has access to interpreting and translation services. If you
need this information in another language, please contact the Quality
Manager on (024) 76968864, and we will do our best to accommodate your
needs. The Trust operates a smoke free policy.
Document History
Author: B Lavender / S Keay
Department: CRM
Contact Tel No: (024) 76968889
Doc. Location: QM computer, I drive (patient information), Printing
(egg donation / info session recipient),
Donor Sperm patient info folder
Version: GEN-PI-000113V4
Reference No: Quality/information sheets/CMV patient information
Review Date: January 2018
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Cytomegalovirus (CMV) – Patient Information
www.ivf-midland.co.uk
www.uhcw.nhs.uk