For infants who are infected by their mothers before birth, two potential adverse scenarios exist: * Generalized<unk>  may occur in the infant, and can cause complications such as low birth weight, microcephaly, seizures, petechial rash similar to the "blueberry muffin" rash of congenital rubella syndrome, and moderate hepatosplenomegaly (with jaundice). Though severe cases can be fatal, with supportive treatment most infants with CMV disease will survive. However, from 80% to 90% will have complications within the first few years of life that may include hearing loss, vision impairment, and varying degrees of learning disability. * Another 5% to 10% of infants who are infected but without symptoms at birth will subsequently have varying degrees of hearing and mental or coordination problems. CMV is the most common cause of non-genetic sensorineural hearing loss in children. The onset of hearing loss can occur at any point during childhood, although commonly within the first decade. It is progressive and can affect both ears. The earlier the mother contracts the virus during pregnancy the more severe the effects are on the fetus, similarly the incidence of SNHL is dependent on which trimester of pregnancy CMV is contracted. The virus accounts for 20% of sensorineural hearing loss in children. These risks appear to be almost exclusively associated with women who previously have not been infected with CMV and who are having their first<unk>  with the virus during pregnancy. There appears to be little risk of CMV-related complications for women who have been infected at least 6 months prior to conception. For this group, which makes up 50% to 80% of the women of child-bearing age, the rate of newborn CMV<unk>  is 1%, and these infants appear to have no significant illness or abnormalities. The virus can also be transmitted to the infant at delivery from contact with genital secretions or later in infancy through breast milk. However, these<unk> s usually result in little or no clinical illness in the infant. CMV can also be transferred through blood transfusions and close contact with large groups of children. To summarise, during a pregnancy when a woman who has never had CMV<unk>  becomes infected with CMV, there is a risk that after birth the infant may have CMV-related complications, the most common of which are associated with hearing loss, visual impairment, or diminished mental and motor capabilities. On the other hand, healthy infants and children who acquire CMV after birth have few, if any, symptoms or complications. However, infants born preterm and infected with CMV after birth (especially via breastmilk) may experience cognitive and motor impairments later in life. Symptoms associated with CMV, such as hearing loss, can result in further developmental delay. A delay in general speech and language development is more common in children with CMV. Children with symptomatic CMV have been found to have a greater incidence of long-term neurological and neurodevelopmental complications than children with fetal alcohol syndrome or down syndrome.<unk>  can be an important cause of intraventricular hemorrhage and neonatal encephalopathy.
Congenital cytomegalovirus infection
Congenital rubella syndrome
Congenital malaria
Congenital syphilis
Neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease
Neonatal infection
Neonatal hepatitis
Neonatal sepsis