Blog

Meet the Founders: Kristen Hutchinson Spytek

Kristen is the current President of the National CMV Foundation. Read as she recounts her personal journey along with pertinent CMV information from her guest blog on MotherToBaby.org: "CMV. The Most Common Viral Infection Affecting Newborns That You've Never Heard About".

​National CMV Foundation Sponsors $45,000 CMV Research Award

The National CMV Foundation is excited to announce that it made its first research award in May 2017. Through the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society (PIDS), the foundation awarded a two-year, $45,000 fellowship award to Frances Saccoccio, MD, PhD. Dr. Saccoccio is a 2nd year pediatric infectious disease fellow at Duke University. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicines’ combined MD/PhD Program and her dissertation and other research work has focused on congenital CMV vaccines. 

​Get Involved: 6 Ways to Support National CMV This June

June is National CMV Awareness Month. National CMV Awareness Month is a time to educate your community about congenital CMV. Spreading CMV awareness in medical practices, therapy centers, daycares and schools is a great way to celebrate June and promote prevention practices so we may eliminate congenital CMV for the next generation. 

Important information about CMV for OB/GYNs

​There is a prominent health threat in our nation that is slipping under the radar: CMV. With the help of OB/GYNs, we can raise awareness and empower pregnant women, protecting their babies through simple prevention methods and giving them options for treatment if they do contract this virus.

How family and friends can support loved ones affected by CMV

​There is a very old saying that goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." When that child has special needs, this is especially true. Family and friends are a critical part of life when you have a child with CMV, but sometimes it's hard to know what to do. National CMV can help you learn more - about CMV, about the special needs each child might face, and about what your family member or friend might need most right now.

Tech exec/CMV dad discusses raising CMV awareness online

Silicon Valley executive Wade Chambers has not only sat on the board of directors of both the National CMV Foundation and Stop CMV, but he also has twin daughters born with congenital CMV. Wade's professional past in tech has seen stints at Netscape, AOL, Opsware, and Yahoo, but his current role is serving as a Vice President of Engineering for Twitter. We sat down with Wade to get his insights into how the issue of CMV can leverage exising and emerging technologies to raise awareness and encourage advocacy. 

​International CMV consensus report published in the Lancet

A consensus report from the International Congenital Cytomegalovirus Recommendations Group was recently published in the UK medical journal, the Lancet. The report, entitled “Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy and the neonate: consensus recommendations for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy”, is the result of an international consensus meeting held in Brisbane, Australia at the 5th International Congenital Cytomegalovirus Conference. 

2017 CMV Legislation Proposed in Four States

What do Idaho, Iowa, Oregon, and Maine have in common? These states have proposed state CMV legislation for 2017! Thanks to the hard work of sponsors, parents, physicians, and other advocates within these states, CMV legislation with proposed education and/or screening programs will be evaluated during this legislative session in each individual state. So what's in all of these bills? Check out our blog for summaries and links to bill text and updates. 

​Microcephaly 101

Microcephaly has been making headlines over the last year as potential brain malformation connected to women diagnosed with Zika during pregnancy. However, kids are at risk of being born with microcephaly even in areas of the world not hit by the Zika virus. Many of these cases are caused by cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Unlike Zika, which is only being actively transmitted in a small area of the world, CMV exists virtually everywhere. To reduce these cases, we need to increase awareness of CMV: causes, detection, treatments, etc. 

Remembering Aedan

The tremendous loss that we experience -- as parents and as a community -- when a child sucumbs to the effects of congenital CMV cannot by overstated. We see ourselves in each parent's experience and we extend our love and hope to all children born with CMV, much like we would our own.