Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Avidity, IgG

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that belongs to the herpes family. On average, every person gets infected by this virus at least once by the time they reach 40 years of age. This virus can remain dormant in your body for a long time. It is also possible that you can catch the infection during childhood, teenage, or even during adulthood with no distinct symptoms. In most cases, the virus remains inactive and causes symptoms only when it experiences stress in the immune system.

In such a scenario, the CMV avidity test is essential to detect the presence of cytomegalovirus. This is because the virus can quickly spread through the saliva of one person and can cause cold sores. The cytomegalovirus test is essential for people with a weak immune system as they may suffer from severe symptoms of the infection.

Different types of CMV infections can affect an individual at various stages:

• Congenital: This infection is usually inherited from maternal blood and affects a baby before it is born.
• Primary: It is the first infection from CMV that an individual suffers at any point in their lifespan. Usually, it seems like mononucleosis due to its symptoms.
• Reactivation: A reactivation of CMV is a secondary infection where the virus activates itself after remaining dormant for a period. These infections can also result from HIV infection, cancer treatment, and organ transplantation.

Apollo 24|7 offers a panel for CMV avidity test to detect the presence of the infection. Some of the symptoms to notice before going for a CMV IgG test are:

• Feeling constant fatigue
• Swelling in glands
• Consistent relapse of fever
• Sore throat 
• Ache in the muscle

Some rare symptoms to also look for before opting for a CMV avidity test include:

• Changes in personality that may seem like mood swings
• Constant headache or heaviness in the head
• Breathing difficulty
• Dry cough after soreness of the throat
• Difficulty in concentrating on tasks

If it is congenital, one can look for these symptoms in their new-born and order a cytomegalovirus test:

• Premature birth
• Low birth weight
• Bruise-like rashes all over the body
• Jaundice
• Microencephaly, i.e., small-sized head
• Loss of hearing
• Pneumonia
• Seizure s
• Hepatitis or liver inflammation

The CMV test is also necessary after an organ transplant. 
 

Medically reviewed by Dr. Surya Narayan Mohanty, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Apollo Hospitals Old Sainik School Road, Bhubaneswar