Korean J Infect Dis.  2000 Aug;32(4):280-286.

Frequency and Clinical Manifestations of Human Herpesvirus-6 Infection in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients

• Choi JH
• Lee DG
• Shin WS
• Kang JH
• Kim TG
• Paik SY
• Han H
• Min CK
• Kim DW
• Lee JW
• Min WS
• Kim CC

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) is recently known as a major pathogen associated with various diseases in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. We prospectively evaluated the frequency and clinical manifestations of HHV-6 infection in HSCT recipient in a single HSCT center in Korea.
METHODS
Serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were weekly obtained from 1 week before HSCT to 4 weeks after HSCT. Three months' and six months' samples were obtained in some cases. HHV-6 was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction.
RESULTS
Two hundred and seventy-eight samples from 54 HSCT recipients were collected from February to November, 1999. HHV-6 was detected in 32 out of 54 recipients (59.3%) at least once during study period in their PBMC or serum. HHV-6 DNA positive rate of PBMC and serum samples were 38.1% and 4.3 % respectively. HHV-6 DNAemia (HHV-6 DNA positive in serum) was detected and peaked at 2 weeks after HSCT and continued to 4 weeks. HHV-6 DNA in peripheral blood was not associated with unexplained fever, acute graft-versus-host disease, engraftment delay, or cytomegalovirus infection in this study.
CONCLUSION
Reactivation and development of DNAemia of HHV-6 certainly occurred after HSCT, but the clinical manifestations and association with other diseases were unclear in this study. The large-scaled, nation-wide detail studies about the prevalence and characteristics of HHV-6 in general population and patients of specific disease entities must be considered.

Keyword

Human herpesvirus-6; Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

MeSH Terms

Cytomegalovirus Infections
DNA
Fever
Graft vs Host Disease
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Hematopoietic Stem Cells*
Herpesvirus 6, Human
Humans*
Korea
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Transplantation*
DNA