Again, many people in the United States and elsewhere are infected with CMV. But it only causes disease in patients with severely compromised immune systems. And, even in patients with damaged immune systems due to HIV, the presence of CMV documented by a blood test does not mean that it will definitely cause active disease.
Diagnosing CMV disease depends on the affected organ. CMV retinitis, for example, can often be diagnosed by an ophthalmologist (eye doctor), simply by looking at the back of the eye. Other forms of CMV, such as CMV encephalitis, esophagitis, and colitis are diagnosed using tissue samples collected from the organ involved.
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