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Q&A with Mama Hu Hears

We had a chance to chat with Michelle Hu. Aud, Pediatric Audiologist. Michelle has turned her love for all things hearing and personal experience with hearing loss into an online presence for educating parents and professionals - Mama Hu Hears. Michelle shares her clinical perspective and experience with congenital CMV related hearing loss.

Update: cCMV Nomination for the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP)

The most recent update about our nomination for congenital CMV (cCMV) for inclusion on the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP) by the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) by Megan Pesch, MD, MS, FAAP, President-Elect National CMV Foundation. 

Newborn Screening and Congenital CMV

Author: Patrick Fleming, M.D. Candidate Early detection of congenital CMV infection in newborns is essential to providing the best possible care. Unfortunately, cCMV is not yet included in universal newborn screening (NBS) programs in the United States. Read more to learn about the history of NBS as it relates to congenital CMV.

COVID-19 Vaccine in Children With Disabilities and Complex Healthcare Needs

Author: Dr. Kathleen Muldoon & Dr. Megan Pesch The kid-sized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was recently authorized for children 5 to 11 years of age. 28 million children are now eligible for vaccination, including approximately 1 in 6 children with a developmental disability. [1]  Recent statistics show why pediatricians and infectious disease experts at the National CMV Foundation support the vaccine for younger children, including for children with disabilities.

Help Childcare Providers Fight CMV

Author: Lisa Saunders I'm a former licensed childcare provider who, like many across the United States, had never heard of my occupational risk for CMV, the #1 viral cause of birth defects. CMV is often found in child care centers. I was unaware that cytomegalovirus (CMV) was an occupational risk for daycare educators when I became a licensed home daycare provider in Maryland in 1987. I didn’t know that CMV could devastate my pregnancy with Elizabeth, who was born severely disabled by congenital CMV in 1989. 

CMV awareness is dangerously low as compared to other congenital diseases

Even though congenital CMV is the leading viral cause of congenital disabilities and the leading non-genetic cause of childhood hearing loss, most adults have never heard of it. 

​Key Observations from the 2017 International CMV Conference

Approximately 300 of the world’s leading experts in CMV-related research came together in the Netherlands on April 30th for the 6th International CMV Conference (16th International CMV/betaherpesvirus Workshop). This event aims to connect basic science and clinical expertise research to prevent and cure CMV diseases. Several trusted advisors to the National CMV Foundation and members of our Research Priorities Committee attended and presented on current studies and recent findings. 

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.

CMV Stealing Headlines from Zika

2016 saw the rapid rise and total media saturation of the Zika virus. And while the virus itself may not have been everywhere, the media coverage was impossible to miss and it was compelling. 

Ultrasound detection of congenital CMV infection

Tens of thousands of babies are born in the United States with congenital CMV every year. For many of these babies, possible signs of CMV infection were likely visible during pregnancy on ultrasound.