Human herpes virus 6 or Epstein-Barr virus were not detected in Guthrie cards from children who later developed leukaemia.
To investigate if children who later developed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were prenatally infected with HHV-6 and/or EBV, Guthrie cards taken at birth were analysed by PCR. Guthrie cards from 54 patients with ALL and 47 healthy controls matched for age and birth place were tested negative for both HHV-6 and EBV DNA. All samples contained amplifiable DNA when tested by HLA-DQ PCR. Our negative findings suggest that childhood ALL is unlikely to be associated with an in utero infection with EBV or HHV-6.
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
G
G
Bogdanovic
A G
AG
Jernberg
P
P
Priftakis
L
L
Grillner
B
B
Gustafsson
D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000150:complications; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000821:virology*; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000150:complications; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000150:complications
D004279:DNA, Viral