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PEDIATRICS Vol. 101 No. 2 February 1998, p. e3

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Case-Control Study of Primary Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection in Children With Febrile Seizures

Received Jul 9, 1997; accepted Oct 3, 1997.

Juliette Hukin*, Kevin Farrell*, Laurie M MacWilliam§, Margaret ColbourneDagger , Eiko WaidaDagger , Rusung Tanpar , Larry Mrozpar , and Eva Thomaspar

From the Divisions of * Pediatric Neurology and Dagger  General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics; the § Centre of Evaluation Sciences; and the par  Department of Pathology, University of British Columbia and British Columbia's Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Rationale.  Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has been demonstrated to be the causative agent in roseola infantum. It has been suggested that HHV-6 may have neurotropic properties and be involved in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures in infants. We describe a case-control study to examine the hypothesis that acute HHV-6 infection occurs more commonly in children with febrile seizures than in controls.

Methods.  Patients presenting with a first or second febrile seizure between 6 months and 2 years of age were entered in the study. Control patients did not have a seizure but had similar inclusion and exclusion criteria. Specimens were obtained for HHV-6 viral serology and polymerase chain reaction in the acute stage and approximately 2 weeks later. A diagnosis of HHV-6 infection was based on HHV-6-specific IgM and IgG serology and HHV-6 polymerase chain reaction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and saliva.

Results.  Eighty-six patients (45 with febrile seizures; 41 controls) were enrolled. The HHV-6 infection status could be determined in only 68 patients (35 with febrile seizures; 33 controls). Acute HHV-6 infection was identified in 15 of 35 febrile seizure patients and in 15 of 33 controls. Evidence of past HHV-6 infection was demonstrated in 13 febrile seizure patients and in 8 controls.

Conclusions.  The incidence of primary HHV-6 infection is similar in patients with febrile seizures and age-matched controls. HHV-6 does not seem to be a major factor in the pathogenesis of first and second febrile seizures.

Key words: human herpesvirus 6, febrile seizures, case-control.




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