Optimising Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Outcomes with Personalised Testing

Jenni Miller, Eurofins Viracor, Director of Marketing, jennimiller@viracor-eurofins.com

According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CMV is a common virus that infects people of all ages. Over half of adults have been infected with CMV by age 40. Once CMV is in a person’s body, it stays there for life and can reactivate. For most people CMV is not a concern, and may not even produce symptoms. However, for people with weakened immune systems, such as those who recently received a transplant, or babies infected with the virus before they are born, CMV can cause serious problems. In transplant recipients, the adverse outcomes from CMV disease are severe and can result in loss of the transplant and even death. For neonates, congenital CMV is a leading cause of permanent hearing loss and may cause brain, vision or developmental problems. Detecting and treating CMV early with antiviral medication can improve outcomes and prevent further damage from hearing and vision loss. Ruling out CMV can prevent unnecessary use of potent, harmful drugs.

Eurofins Viracor offers multiple CMV testing options to help improve patient outcomes. Viracor’s CMV Quantitative Real-time PCR testing detects multiple targets of the virus, minimising the possibility of false negative results. Viracor recently validated saliva as an accepted specimen type for its CMV qPCR assay, to give physicians an easier, non-invasive, and accurate option for collecting specimens from neonates. Saliva is one of 19 specimen types Viracor accepts for CMV qPCR testing, giving physicians more options.

The risk of patients developing an antiviral-resistant strain of CMV with continued antiviral use in either prophylaxis or preemptive therapy regimens is rising. To aid in rapid detection of resistance, Viracor offers CMV Antiviral Resistance (AVR) Sequencing. Viracor also recently launched a CMV T Cell Immunity Panel to aid physicians in evaluating if the patient has a functional immune response to CMV, which may help the physician decide whether to continue or to stop using antivirals.

For more information, please visit www.Viracor-Eurofins.com