I donate blood frequently, and lately have been donating platelets (apheresis). The Red Cross has me on their speed dial, apparently because I have “CMV negative” blood. From what I understand, that means my blood does not have a common virus that is generally harmless in most people, but means a lot to babies and people with immune deficiency problems.
I presume that means that I have never been exposed to this virus. I’m 44 years old - does that mean I’m just lucky, or is something else happening here?
The real GQ here is - can this ever change for me? That is, could I “catch” CMV at some time in the future, and then forevermore not have this special blood feature?