TITLE:
The Seropositivity Rate of Human Herpesvirus Type 6 among Infants in Diyala Province, Iraq
AUTHORS:
A. Sh. Hasan, Sh. Mehdi, A. Hasan Noor
KEYWORDS:
Human Herpesvirus-6, Roseola Infantum, Diyala
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.7 No.6,
June
19,
2019
ABSTRACT: Background: Human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) has been shown to infect almost all children by 4 years of age. Primary infection causes an undifferentiated febrile illness, with approximately 30% of children exhibiting the classic clinical manifestations of roseola infantum. Objectives: The current study was carried out to explore the anti-HHV-6 IgG positivity rate as a marker of past infection among apparently healthy infants and to figure out the effect of certain infant and family characteristics on the infectivity rate. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted in Diyala province during the period from August 2017-July 2018. A total of 180 apparently healthy infants were included, their ages ranged between 6 - 24 months. They consist of 100 males with mean age ± SD 15.05 ± 6.42 months and 80 females with mean age ± SD 15.56 ± 6.66 months. Human privacy was respected by obtaining parental consent. Venous blood samples were collected aseptically from each participant. Sera were separated and tested for the anti-HHV6 IgG (Sunlong Biotech, China) by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant assay (ELISA) technique. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 23 and P value Conclusion: About one half of apparently healthy infants aged up to two years of Diyala population have anti-HHV6 IgG antibodies and the presence of intrafamilial primary HHV-6 positive case is markedly associated with increased rate of anti-HHV6 IgG among siblings.