Cytomegalovirus Symptoms – STI Symptoms & Signs

Last Updated on July 29, 2021 by Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR

In a healthy person, initial CMV infection often occurs without symptoms and is rarely noticed.

Most people who have CMV have no symptoms.

If a person receives a transfusion of blood containing CMV, fever and sometimes liver inflammation may develop 2 to 4 weeks later.

When CMV symptoms do appear, they may include:

Occasionally, a first-time infection with CMV may cause a mild illness called mononucleosis. Symptoms include swollen glands, liver, and spleen; fever; increased white blood cells; headache; fatigue; and sore throat.

About 8 percent of all mononucleosis cases are due to CMV infection.

• Swollen glands, fatigue, fever, and general weakness
• Irritations of the digestive tract, nausea, diarrhea
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes)

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Symptoms in people with compromised immunity:

If a person with a severely weakened immune system contracts CMV, the infection may be severe, sometimes resulting in serious disease or death.

These illnesses include pneumonia and inflammations of the liver (hepatitis), brain (encephalitis), esophagus (esophagitis), large intestine (colitis), and retina of the eye (retinitis).

In people with AIDS, CMV infection is a common viral complication.

The virus also tends to infect the retina of the eye. This infection (CMV retinitis) can cause blindness.

Infection of the brain (encephalitis), pneumonia, or painful ulcers of the intestine or esophagus may also develop.

Some symptoms may include:

• Visual impairment and blindness
• Pneumonia
• Diarrhea
• Ulcers in the digestive tract, possibly causing bleeding
• Hepatitis
• Inflammation of the brain (encephalitis)
• Behavioral changes
• Seizures
• Coma

Symptoms in babies with congenital CMV:

If a pregnant person transmits CMV to the fetus, miscarriage, stillbirth, or death of the newborn may result.

Babies who contract CMV during birth rarely develop any illness from these infections.

Infants born prematurely who contract CMV during birth have a greater chance of complications, including pneumonia, hepatitis, decreased blood platelets. Death is caused by bleeding, anemia, or extensive damage to the liver or brain. Newborns who survive may have hearing loss and intellectual disability.

However, an unborn baby is at great risk for serious problems when the mother becomes infected with CMV for the first time while pregnant.

About 10 percent of these babies will be born with obvious problems, including prematurity, lung problems, an enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, anemia, low birth weight, small head size, and inflammation of the retina. About 90 percent of these babies may appear perfectly normal at birth. Unfortunately, about 20 percent later develop severe hearing impairments and mental disability.

A 2003 report found that pregnant people 25 years of age and older who are immune to CMV are much less likely to pass the virus to their babies than younger people who have never been exposed to CMV.

Some symptoms may include:

• Yellow skin and eyes (jaundice)
• Purple skin splotches or a rash or both
• Small size at birth (or low birth weight)
• Enlarged spleen
• Enlarged and poorly functioning liver
• Pneumonia
• Seizures

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