What is cmv virus

CMV virus is a type of virus. Its full name is cytomegalovirus. It belongs to the herpes virus and often occurs in organ transplant recipients, bone marrow transplant patients and AIDS patients. The CMV virus can have a great impact on the human body. If the various diseases caused by it are not treated, then after the deterioration, the patient's physical fitness will decline sharply and even affect the patient's various body functions!

1. What is the CMV virus?

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a member of the herpes virus family. CMV has a lipid envelope on its surface and a double-stranded DNA chromosome of 229 kb. CMV infection is transmitted through direct contact (vertical infection) with infected tissue or body fluids (such as saliva, blood, or urine). The routes of transmission are very wide, the most common of which are intrauterine, cervical secretions or breast milk transmission; close contact with young children in the intensive care unit; and sexual contact. CMV infection is also common in organ transplant patients, bone marrow transplant patients, and AIDS patients.

2. Pathological

1. The duality of virus existence. The life activities of viruses are very special and they are absolutely dependent on cells. It exists in two forms: one is extracellular form and the other is intracellular form. When it exists in the extracellular environment, it does not show replication activity, but maintains infection activity in the form of virions or virus particles. Once entering the cell, it disintegrates and releases nucleic acid molecules (DNA or RNA), which replicate using a unique life activity system under the conditions of the intracellular environment, thus taking the form of nucleic acid molecules.

2. Crystalline and non-crystalline viruses Viruses can be purified into crystals. We know that crystal is a chemical concept and a form of existence of many inorganic compounds. We can assume that some viruses have two forms: chemical crystal form and life activity form.

3. Particle form and gene form The virus exists outside the cell in particle form and is only infectious at this time. Once the virus infects the cell, it disintegrates and releases the nucleic acid genome, which can then replicate and proliferate to produce new progeny viruses. Some viral genomes are integrated into the cell genome and proliferate as the cells reproduce. At this time, the virus proliferates in the form of genes rather than particles. This is a way for the virus to latently infect.

3. Effects of CMV on the human body

CMV is the most common opportunistic infectious virus and can cause serious consequences in immunocompromised patients.

The incidence of CMV infection is age-related, ranging from approximately 10-40% in children to 50-90% in adults (50% of infected adults are over 50 years old). Among high-risk groups for HIV infection (such as homosexual men or intravenous drug users), the incidence of CMV infection is as high as over 90%.

Healthy people may have no symptoms or only mild discomfort in the early stages of CMV infection (similar to EB virus infection). Afterwards, CMV enters a latent period until it is activated again. CMV may be reactivated after organ or bone marrow transplantation using immunosuppressants or in AIDS patients due to low immune status.

Symptomatic CMV disease occurs as a result of immunosuppression. For solid organ transplant recipients, CMV is the most common pathogen after transplantation, and its clinical manifestations vary from asymptomatic to severe and even fatal. Indirect effects of CMV infection include shortened long-term survival of both the graft and the recipient. CMV is the most common serious opportunistic viral infection in patients with AIDS. Its most common clinical manifestation is retinitis, which can lead to vision loss or even blindness.