Often overlooked, a common infection during pregnancy kickstarts a conversation about newborn screening
For years, there has been relatively little attention paid to CMV, a common infection in newborns that can lead to hearing loss and other health problems. That's starting to change.
On a spring day in the late 1980s, pediatrician Mark Schleiss was confronted with a difficult case: a months-old infant who had developed pneumonia. While many infants with pneumonia recover, this particular baby had grown so sick he was admitted to the ICU, where he died. The autopsy showed he had disseminated cytomegalovirus, which had caused his pneumonia and then his death.
“There’s nothing that makes an impression on you as a young physician quite like going to the autopsy of one of your own patients,” said Schleiss. He already knew he would train in infectious diseases, including HIV. But the diagnosis of CMV drew his interest.
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