Groundnut rosette virus

UMass Chan Medical School announces enrollment in study to examine impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission in early education settings

Retrieved on: 
Monday, August 14, 2023
Vaccine, Infection, YWCA, MRNA, Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts, Therapy, YWCA of Central Massachusetts, Community advisory board, Cytomegalovirus, Education, Hearing loss, Parent, Biotechnology, Drug, Medicine, Research, RNA, Messenger, Groundnut rosette virus, Stoddard, Central Massachusetts, Risk, Child, CMV, Microcephaly, Pregnancy, Birth, MPH, Developmental disability, Tutoring, Nursing, MD, Moderna

WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UMass Chan Medical School today announced it will begin enrolling participants at group child care and early childhood education settings in Worcester and Cambridge to examine the impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission. The study is a collaboration with Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics and vaccines, which is currently researching a vaccine for CMV.

Key Points: 
  • WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UMass Chan Medical School today announced it will begin enrolling participants at group child care and early childhood education settings in Worcester and Cambridge to examine the impact of cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission.
  • The study, called CMV Transmission and Immune Tracking (CMVTransmIT), will examine how CMV spreads among children and between household members, with an aim to characterize immune responses to CMV infection over time.
  • Findings from the study will inform the design of CMV prevention strategies, including awareness campaigns for CMV, to potentially reduce its spread in similar group settings.
  • "Dr. Gibson's CMV Transmit study is an important effort to provide a better understanding of CMV transmission dynamics and immune response to infection."

Cytomegalovirus lies dormant in most US adults and is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, but few have heard of it

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 1, 2023
Infection, Medicine, Learning, Pregnancy, Food, Legislation, Awareness, Cytomegalovirus, HIV, Hearing loss, Education, Urine, Rubella, Fetus, Toxoplasmosis, Parent, Prenatal care, Native, Fever, Clinical trial, Birth defect, Meal, Chickenpox, Brain, Research, Risk, Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Incidence, Groundnut rosette virus, Food and Drug Administration, Hospital, Population, Child, CMV, Immune system, Stillbirth, Glycine mollis, Diagnosis, Infant, Birth, Outline of counseling, Fluid mechanics, Death, Virus, Family, Valaciclovir, Syphilis, Saliva, Fatigue, Disease, Vaccine, Birth control, Dietary supplement, Pharmaceutical industry

CMV belongs to the same virus family as cold sores and chickenpox and, like those viruses, lives in the body for life.

Key Points: 
  • CMV belongs to the same virus family as cold sores and chickenpox and, like those viruses, lives in the body for life.
  • Most children and adults experience very mild or even no symptoms with their initial infection.
  • Congenital CMV, or cCMV, is the most common infection before birth and the leading infectious cause of birth defects.
  • Black and Native American infants also have a higher risk of death from cCMV compared to white infants.

Looking for CMV during pregnancy

    • If CMV can infect a fetus and cause birth defects, then why aren’t pregnant people tested and treated for this virus too?
    • Prenatal CMV screening is not standard of care due to several limitations of the current testing approach.
    • Biweekly antibodies against CMV seem to reduce fetal transmission when given around conception or during the first trimester, but CMV is rarely diagnosed that early in pregnancy.
    • In general, valacyclovir does not work as well as other CMV drugs that people cannot take during pregnancy.

Screening newborns for CMV

    • An accurate CMV test for newborns is available, and many studies support the benefit of early CMV diagnosis.
    • While some birth centers provide early CMV testing, most U.S. states do not mandate newborn CMV screening.
    • In February 2022, Minnesota became the first – and remains the only – state to require CMV screening of all newborns, although Massachusetts and Indiana have pending universal screening bills.
    • Most newborns with cCMV appear physically normal at birth and develop normally over their lifetime, leading some to question the benefits of CMV screening for those children.

Spreading CMV awareness, not infection

    • Most people have not heard of CMV or are unwaware of what they can do to reduce their chances of getting CMV during pregnancy.
    • Many adults are repeatedly exposed to one of the major risk factors for CMV infection: a young child who regularly attends large-group child care.
    • Children can appear quite healthy but carry CMV in their saliva and urine for weeks or even months after infection.

UMass Chan Medical School announces research collaboration with Moderna to examine impact of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in young children

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Eating, Urine, Risk, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Groundnut rosette virus, Infection, Nursing school, Population, Therapy, Microcephaly, Multimedia, Cytomegalovirus, City, Hearing loss, News, Vaccine, CMV, Research, Biotechnology, U.S. News & World Report, MPH, Pregnancy, Health, RNA, Moderna, View, Medical school, RNA transfection, Nasdaq, University of Massachusetts, Drug, Science, VP, Saliva, Education, MRNA, Birth, University, Biomedical sciences, Adult, Pharmaceutical industry, MD, Nursing

WORCESTER, Mass., March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UMass Chan Medical School today announced a research collaboration with Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics and vaccines, on a comprehensive study of cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission in group childcare, education, and household settings.

Key Points: 
  • The study will be led by Laura Gibson, MD, an Adult and Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist at UMass Chan.
  • The UMass Chan Medical School, one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system, comprises the T.H.
  • Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the TanChingfenGraduate School of Nursing; a thriving research enterprise and an innovative public service initiative, Commonwealth Medicine.
  • UMass Chan attracts more than $400 million annually in research funding, placing it among the top 50 medical schools in the nation.In 2021, the Medical School received a $175 million donation from The Morningside Foundation and was renamed the UMass Chan Medical School.