title: Activation of human herpesvirus-6 in children with acute measles.
abstract: Virological and serological studies were carried out prospectively to evaluate the possible activation of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in 50 infants and children with acute measles by isolation of HHV-6 from peripheral blood and by determining neutralizing antibodies to the virus. All but 5 patients (90%) were seropositive to HHV-6 in the acute stage of measles and 18 (40%) had a significant increase in HHV-6 antibody titers thereafter, whereas only 2 of 27 patients who were initially seropositive to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen (VCA) had a significant rise in antibody titers to EBV VCA. Among 18 patients with a significant increase in HHV-6 titers, the virus was isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of three patients in the early convalescent stage of measles. These results indicate that activation of HHV-6 may occur frequently a few weeks after primary infection with the measles virus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suga
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yazaki
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014775:Virus Activation
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral