title: Update on infections with human herpesviruses 6A, 6B, and 7.
abstract: Human herpesviruses 6A, 6B, and 7 (HHV-6A, HHV-6B, HHV-7) are genetically related to cytomegalovirus. They belong to the Roseolovirus genus and to the Betaherpesvirinae subfamily. They infect T cells, monocytes-macrophages, epithelial cells, and central nervous system cells. These viruses are ubiquitous and are responsible for lifelong chronic infections, most often asymptomatic, in the vast majority of the general adult population. HHV-6B is responsible for exanthema subitum, which is a benign disease of infants. HHV-6A and HHV-6B also cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients: encephalitis, hepatitis, bone marrow suppression, colitis, and pneumonitis. Their etiological role in chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cardiomyopathy, and thyroiditis is still controversial. The pathogenicity of HHV-7 is less clear and seems to be much more restricted. Chromosomal integration of HHV-6A and HHV-6B is transmissible from parents to offspring and observed in about 1% of the general population. This integration raises the question of potential associated diseases and can be a confounding factor for the diagnosis of active infections by both viruses. The diagnosis of HHV-6A, HHV-6B, and HHV-7 infections is rather based on gene amplification (PCR), which allows for the detection and quantification of the viral genome, than on serology, which is mainly indicated in case of primary infection. Ganciclovir, foscarnet, and cidofovir inhibit the replication of HHV-6A, HHV-6B, and HHV-7. Severe infections may thus be treated but these therapeutic indications are still poorly defined.
authors: Service de virologie, CERVI, hôpitaux universitaires La Pitié Salpêtrière-Charles-Foix, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 83, boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris cedex 13, France; Inserm, CIMI-Paris UMR 1135, Équipe 1 PVI, Sorbonne universités, UPMC université Paris 6, 75013 Paris, France. Electronic address: henri.agut@gmail.com.
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Agut
authors: Inserm, CIMI-Paris UMR 1135, Équipe 1 PVI, Sorbonne universités, UPMC université Paris 6, 75013 Paris, France. Electronic address: pascale.bonnafous@aphp.fr.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Bonnafous
authors: Service de virologie, CERVI, hôpitaux universitaires La Pitié Salpêtrière-Charles-Foix, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 83, boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75651 Paris cedex 13, France; Inserm, CIMI-Paris UMR 1135, Équipe 1 PVI, Sorbonne universités, UPMC université Paris 6, 75013 Paris, France; Faculté de pharmacie, université Paris-Descartes, 75006 Paris, France. Electronic address: agnes.gautheret@aphp.fr.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Gautheret-Dejean
mesh_terms: D003663:Decision Trees; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human; D016199:Herpesvirus 7, Human; D006801:Humans; D019349:Roseolovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy
keywords: Chromosomal integration; Exanthema subitum; Exanthème subit; HHV-6; HHV-7; Infections opportunistes; Intégration chromosomique; Opportunistic infections