Andrew and his mom (right) chat with Dr. Gail Demmler, director of the Congenital CMV Program at Texas Children's.

INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Andrew
Diagnosed as a newborn,
Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV)

Texas Children's patient Andrew never liked getting his hands dirty, so it's ironic that this young actor's role in the upcoming movie, How to Eat Fried Worms, due out Friday, Aug. 25, brings him into contact with the icky side of nature.
 
Andrew was born with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV), a virus that silently infects most people at some point. CMV can feel like flu and be just as short-lived. It is found in bodily fluids and spreads through person-to-person contact, blood transfusions and organ transplantation - or from a pregnant woman to her unborn baby. Approximately 10 percent of the infected infants have symptoms or abnormalities at birth, including deafness, blindness, developmental and motor disabilities, as well as severe damage to the liver, kidney, spleen, lungs and bone marrow.
 
Showing no symptoms of CMV at birth, Andrew has been enrolled in the world's only long-term study on babies with congenital CMV since he was 3 weeks old. The 25-year collaboration between Texas Children's and Baylor College of Medicine, headed by Dr. Gail Demmler of the Infectious Diseases Service and director of the Diagnostic Virology Laboratory, and follows more than 200 families.
 
Demmler, a professor of Pediatrics at Baylor, also founded the National Congenital CMV Registry, the only one of its kind, with the late Dr. Martha Yow. This national surveillance program tracks congenital CMV and provides a parent support network.
 
Beginning acting classes at age 5, Andrew pursued an acting career that would cast him in the play Brigadoon at Theatre Under the Stars and lead him into his first movie at 11 years old. How to Eat Fried Worms is based on Thomas Rockwell's 1930s book that addresses bullying. The story is about a new fifth-grade boy who squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class. Andrew plays the role of Techno Mouth, so named because he wears braces.
 
"I play Techno Mouth who is part of the bully's gang at first, but switches over to the new boy's side after getting to know him. He is an added character and is not in the original book," said Andrew. "Techno Mouth is a problem solver and an idea guy. He comes up with things to do and places to go."
 
Andrew revealed the most challenging part of making the movie was surviving the scorching hot Austin sun during the summer. Between takes, blow dryers often were used to dry out hair and clothing, and the makeup artist was continually reapplying the bruises and scabs to Andrew's arms.  
 
Because of his relationship with Texas Children's, Andrew recently stopped in to sign a copy of the book, How to Eat Fried Worms, in the Pi Beta Phi Patient/Family Library. He also chatted with other CMV patients in the study and helped "Dingy Debbie" on the air at Radio Lollipop.
 
Like Johnny Depp with his trademark gold teeth in Pirates of the Caribbean, Andrew was scheduled to remove his first round of braces, but kept them on for the movie premier. Stay tuned - maybe this talented patient is planning a sequel.