Introduction
Cytomegalovirus is a very common genus of virus, which belongs to the large viral family of herpes viruses, just like the most famous herpes simplex viruses, the varicella virus or the Epstein-Barr virus. Responsible in people in good health of infections usually asymptomatic, with spontaneous resolution and without long-term consequences, the Cytomegalovirus could, for the reasons just mentioned, be of little interest from a medical-clinical point of view, were it not capable of :
- "Hiding" in the human bone marrow cells (example of viral latency), only to reactivate in a state of stress in which the infected person may find himself, and
- Cause serious consequences, when it infects people with an inefficient immune system (such as AIDS patients or organ transplant recipients) or pregnant women (NB: if in the first case the serious consequences directly concern the infected person, in the second case they are at the expense of the future unborn child).
Cytomegalovirus in Pregnancy
When, during a pregnancy, any cytomegalovirus infection reaches the fetus, doctors describe the situation with the expression "congenital cytomegalovirus infection".
