title: Prevalence of HHV-6 in cerebrospinal fluid of children younger than 2 years of age with febrile convulsion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Febrile convulsion is a common disorder in children. Viral infections such as human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) which results in roseola infantum may contribute to developing seizure. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HHV-6 by detecting DNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with febrile convulsion and without any rash of roseola infantum.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this descriptive cross-sectional study, CSF of 100 children younger than 2 years of age with febrile convulsion was evaluated for detecting HHV-6 DNA by PCR. All of them were referred to emergency ward in Pediatric Medical Center from March 2010 to March 2011. General information, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests and outcomes were collected in the questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred children including 59 males and 41 females were evaluated. HHV-6 was detected from CSF in six patients (6%) by PCR. Mean age was 8 months old. All children were younger than 12 months old. The most common primary manifestation was fever alone. None of them had rash. Majority of cases occurred in winter. All patients recovered without any encephalitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings showed that primary infection with HHV-6 is frequently associated with febrile convulsion in infants which may be at risk for subsequent development of epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric, Pediatric Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Setareh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mamishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric, Pediatric Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kamrani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric, Pediatric Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Jila
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yavarian
keywords: CSF; Children; Febrile Convulsion; Human Herpes Virus 6