Human herpesviruses-6 and -7 each cause significant neurological morbidity in Britain and Ireland

Background: Primary human herpesvirus-6 and -7 (HHV-6/-7) infections cause febrile illness sometimes complicated by convulsions and rarely encephalopathy. Aims: To explore the extent of such HHV-6 and -7 induced disease in young children. Methods: In a three year prospective study in Britain and Ire...

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Veröffentlicht in:Archives of disease in childhood 2005-06, Vol.90 (6), p.619-623
Hauptverfasser: Ward, K N, Andrews, N J, Verity, C M, Miller, E, Ross, E M
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Background: Primary human herpesvirus-6 and -7 (HHV-6/-7) infections cause febrile illness sometimes complicated by convulsions and rarely encephalopathy. Aims: To explore the extent of such HHV-6 and -7 induced disease in young children. Methods: In a three year prospective study in Britain and Ireland, 205 children (2–35 months old) hospitalised with suspected encephalitis and/or severe illness with fever and convulsions were reported via the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit network. Blood samples were tested for primary HHV-6 and -7 infections. Results: 26/156 (17%) of children aged 2–23 months had primary infection (11 HHV-6; 13 HHV-7; two with both viruses) coinciding with the acute illness; this was much higher than the about three cases expected by chance. All 26 were pyrexial; 25 had convulsions (18 status epilepticus), 11 requiring ventilation. Median hospital stay was 7.5 days. For HHV-6 primary infection the median age was 53 weeks (range 42–94) and the distribution differed from that of uninfected children; for HHV-7, the median was 60 weeks (range 17–102) and the distribution did not differ for the uninfected. Fewer (5/15) children with primary HHV-7 infection had previously been infected with HHV-6 than expected. Conclusions: Primary HHV-6 and HHV-7 infections accounted for a significant proportion of cases in those
ISSN:0003-9888
1468-2044
DOI:10.1136/adc.2004.062216