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INSPIRE
LISA SAUNDERS
Fighting CMV one step at a time By Emma Vallelunga
L
isa Saunders has vowed to accomplish two things — walk more than 360 miles and raise awareness for a virus that took her daughter 15 years ago. It’s just one of hundreds of steps on her mission to #StopCMV. Saunders, an Auburn native living in Baldwinsville with her husband Jim, is an author, Cornell graduate, former TV show host and parent representative of the Congenital CMV Foundation. The couple is the using the Erie Canalway Trail and New York State’s Canalway Challenge to eventually trek the state from west to east while spreading their message of awareness for the #StopCMV movement. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is one of the most common viruses that affects people of all ages. While most people infected with CMV show no signs or symptoms, about one out of every 200 babies is born with CMV, known as congenital CMV, and about one in five babies with cCMV infection will suffer from birth defects that could develop into long-term health problems over time. When Saunders' daughter Elizabeth contracted cCMV, her case was severe, later developing cerebral palsy and debilitating seizures with gradual vision and hearing loss. Elizabeth died at the age of 16 in 2006, but it wasn’t until after she was born that Saunders realized her risks for CMV were much greater than she realized. Before and during her pregnancy, Saunders ran a daycare out of her home, interacting with not only her older daughter Jackie but also many other toddlers. She didn’t know pregnant women who contract CMV can pass the virus to their unborn child, and people who have frequent contact with young children are at greater risk of CMV infection because young children are common carriers of the virus. By the age of 5, one in three children can be infected with CMV but usually do not show symptoms, according to the CDC. Saunders claimed she wasn’t told the risks by her doctor in 1989, and an article from the New York Times in 2016 stated the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists used to encourage counseling for pregnant women on how to avoid CMV, but later reversed course, saying, “Patient instruction remains unproven as a method to reduce the risk of congenital CMV infection.” “When you’re a daycare provider, you learn how to spray with this and clean up with that, but if you’re trying to save time, sometimes you use diaper wipes to wipe your hands off, and that doesn’t kill CMV,” she said.
May 2021
“But if you know that it’s more than just a cold you can prevent, you’re going to more diligently follow the hygiene measures.” Saunders knows the most important step in preventing CMV infections is raising awareness. Prevention methods to mitigate the risk of CMV for pregnant women, parents of young children or child-care providers include avoiding getting a child’s saliva in your mouth by not sharing food or utensils, putting a pacifier in your mouth and kissing a child on the mouth. Saunders said these things can be difficult for them to understand but important for their education. “Nobody really wants to hear that they shouldn’t kiss their toddler on their mouth when they’re pregnant,” she said. “You can’t totally prevent exposure to it, but you can certainly reduce your chances. I used to share cups with my toddler. I didn’t kiss my daycare kids on the mouth, but I was a little lazy with using diaper wipes, and I wasn’t told I was at greater risk for this.” When Saunders and her husband were living in Connecticut,
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