TITLE:
Clinical Presentations of HHV-6 Infection in Infants and Children in Kuwait: A Retrospective Study
AUTHORS:
Nada Madi, Haya Al-Tawalah, Widad Al-Nakib
KEYWORDS:
HHV-6, PCR, Kuwait
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.4 No.15,
November
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: Clinical manifestations of human
herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) have not been clearly defined, and the role of HHV-6 in
human disease among infants and children in Kuwait remains to be fully
elucidated. A retrospective study covering the period between 2008 and 2014 was
conducted on infants and children aged from 1 month to 5 years. Blood and CSF
samples from infants and children who presented with symptoms suggestive HHV-6
infection were subjected to PCR test for HHV-6. Results showed that 9.3% (n =
42) of infants and children were positive for HHV-6. Fever was the most
noticeable symptoms, presenting in 50% (n = 21) of the patients. Also,
neutropenia was highly associated with HHV-6 infection, where it presented in
35.8% (n = 15) of infants and children. Our results provided important
information about the clinical outcome of HHV-6 infection among infants and
children in Kuwait.