CMV is common.

CMV is a common virus that is usually harmless in healthy kids and adults.

Preventing the spread of germs, like CMV and other viruses, is more important now than ever.

You can catch CMV by contacting the bodily fluids of a person who carries the virus. The most common bodily fluids to spread CMV include saliva (drool), urine (pee), tears, mucus (snot), breast milk, blood, semen and vaginal fluids.

Some of the most common ways that CMV spreads between people include:

From children to other children
Touching a wet or dirty diaper
Liquids from the nose, mouth or eyes to others
From hands to food
From food to hands to other food
From food to mouth

CMV is common in toddlers

Four orange toddler silhouettes and one black toddler sillouette — Up to 80% of young children in child care settings may be infected with CMV.

**Children can spread CMV to other children, their families, and care takers.**

How do I know if I have CMV?

Sometimes CMV causes cold-like symptoms, like a sore throat, fever, swollen glands, or feeling tired (fatigue). Most people with CMV have no symptoms. This is called asymptomatic infection.

Once you are infected, CMV stays in your body for life but a healthy immune system usually keeps the virus in check. Sometimes the virus can be reactivated (which means it “wakes up” and spreads in your bodily fluids). People can also be infected with more than one strain of CMV in their lives.

You or your child can have a hidden infection with no signs or symptoms.

CMV is so common that over half (more than 50%) of people in the United States have had the virus by age 40 without knowing it. 1 out of 3 children has CMV by age 5. Screening for CMV is not routinely offered in the United States. You can ask your health care provider or blood donation center to be tested for CMV to know whether you have already had CMV.

When does CMV become a problem?

pregnant woman and toddler.png — Congenital CMV (cCMV) is when a baby catches CMV before birth.

cCMV is the most common viral cause of birth defects.

How could my baby catch CMV before birth?

Contact with the saliva or urine of a young child is a common cause of CMV infection in pregnant women. If a woman is infected with CMV while she is pregnant or if an earlier infection becomes active again, her developing baby can be infected too.

Who is at risk of cCMV?

Every woman is at risk of catching CMV while pregnant.

Your exposure to CMV is greater if you have young children at home or work with young children, for example as a child care worker or teacher. Hand washing, cleaning surfaces, and avoiding the bodily fluids of young children is enough to reduce your risk of catching CMV while pregnant.