Ganciclovir (Cytovene) treatment is used for people with depressed immunity who have either sight-related or life-threatening illnesses. Valganciclovir (Valcyte) is an antiviral drug that is also effective and is given orally: it is a pro-drug that gets converted into ganciclovir in the body, but is much better absorbed orally than the latter. The therapeutic effectiveness is frequently compromised by the emergence of drug-resistant virus isolates. A variety of amino acid changes in the UL97 protein kinase and the viral DNA polymerase have been reported to cause drug resistance. Foscarnet or cidofovir are only given to people with CMV resistant to ganciclovir, because foscarnet has notable nephrotoxicity, resulting in increased or decreased Ca2+ or PO43−, and decreased Mg2+ levels.