As an NICU nurse for years I did see some babies compromised by CMV. But as I remember (hopefully correctly) from listening to the neonatologists, certain infectious organisms do the most damage if this is the Mom's PRIMARY, acute episode of this type. For example, babies whose Moms contract herpes for the first time during the pregnancy have a much higher chance of having direct (sometimes fatal) consequences. CMV is an organism carried by MANY people and could probably be cultured several times over. If you tested every healthcare worker for CMV you'd probably find most of us carry it. We've all been exposed at one time or another. Just the presence of it in the breastmilk shouldn't constitute a reason to "sacrifice breastfeeding...", especially if the baby is asymptomatic. If Mom has been carrying the organism around and her body is "handling it", then I suspect her breastmilk is handling it as well. Remember Jack's explanation of localized immunity. Any and all wise ones correct me if I'm offbase please. Jean M. Jean Macomber, RN, IBCLC Lactation Consultant The Family Birth Place St. Luke's Hospital Jacksonville, Florida 32216 904-296-5212 *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html