I would like to respond to this persons post.
During this week’s reading I found myself extremely interested in the
Megalomaniacs. I found it surprising that this was such a common virus
in the world. CMV is found to be related to the herpes virus and
transmitted from person to person by bodily fluids including saliva.
Different ways for CMV to be contracted include congenital, primary, and
reactivation. For a healthy individual contracting the virus is
normally harmless to them but for those who battle with HIV and newborn
babies are most at risk when contracting this virus. For people who have
advanced HIV if they contract CMV they can potentially get an eye
infection that cause potential blindness. But for some babies that
congenitally contract CMV it can be very detrimental to their health.
For babies who contract CMV and show symptoms they can have seizures,
hearing loss, vision loss, and even developmental and motor delays.
Awareness to mothers who have frequent contact with children should be
given by doctors, and I also think that doctors should talk about this
more with pregnant women. I am currently pregnant and have never heard
about this from my doctor but since it is so common to contract
shouldn’t we test for it and bring more awareness to it? I know that
there is testing done for it at the American Red Cross blood pints are
specifically tested for CMV to find out who has not come into contact
with the virus to ensure pints that go to babies and children are CMV
negative. So if we are conscious about CMV in procedures like blood
transfusions why don’t we ensure expecting mothers are educated on this
virus? I think this information can benefit my future in healthcare
because I can make the effort to maybe help others learn about this
virus. My dream is to work with cardio or with children so I believe the
information I learned can make an impact on others one I am in the
field and maybe if I ever have to see a patient with CMV I would be able
to be more understanding about what they are experiencing.
