Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the most common viral infections that affects HIV infected people of all ages. The US accounted for the majority of HIV and HIV-CMV cases among the seven major markets (7MM; the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan) in 2017, largely due to the number of prevalent HIV cases, along with a significantly higher incidence rate of HIV-CMV, according to leading data and analytics company GlobalData.
If left untreated in persons with compromised immune systems, CMV can cause serious morbidity and potentially death. Reportedly, more than half of all adults ages 40 years and older carry the disease. Once infected, a person carries the virus for life, primarily without any symptoms. However, in those with a weakened immune system, dormant CMV can reactivate and may cause severe complications.
GlobalData epidemiologists estimate that there were more than 1.8 million prevalent cases of HIV in the 7MM in 2017, out of which 3,700 were incident cases of symptomatic CMV.
The US accounted for the majority of HIV and HIV-CMV cases primarily due to a significantly higher incidence rate of HIV-CMV (0.83 cases per 100,000 population) than any other market in the 7MM.
Topias Lemetyinen, Healthcare Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Depending on the population, CMV disease can present as end-organ disease (infection and symptoms in the lung, gastrointestinal tract, liver, retina, or other organs), CMV syndrome (fever, fatigue, leukopenia and/or thrombocytosis), or congenital CMV (symptoms ranging from mild manifestations to premature birth and neurologic sequelae). If left untreated in persons with compromised immune systems, these symptoms can cause serious morbidity and potentially death. Luckily, treatment for CMV is effective and widely available.”
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