Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To report two previously healthy children with a life-threatening course of human herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6) infection and prolonged pediatric intensive care treatment.
DESIGN: Case reports.
SETTING: A 16 bed pediatric intensive care unit at a tertiary care children's hospital.
PATIENTS: Two children with life-threatening HHV-6 disease.
INTERVENTIONS: Both children were mechanically ventilated because of respiratory failure. A detailed viral and immunologic workup was performed and treatment with antiviral medication started.
MEASUREMENTS: Polymerase chain reaction assays of plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage, and lung biopsies yielded HHV-6 in both patients. Immunophenotyping and lymphocyte stimulation tests with both mitogens and antigens indicated an immunodeficiency in both patients.
CONCLUSION: HHV-6 infection should be considered in infants and young children with respiratory failure or meningo-encephalitis without clear causative agent or failure to respond to empirical treatment. A thorough immunologic workup and early start with antiviral therapy in any patient with a life-threatening course of HHV-6 infection is mandatory, because a severe HHV-6 infection can be the first indication of a primary immunodeficiency.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | e16-e18 |
| Journal | Pediatric Critical Care Medicine |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid
- Child, Preschool
- DNA, Viral
- Female
- Herpesvirus 6, Human
- Humans
- Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
- Intensive Care Units, Pediatric
- Male
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Roseolovirus Infections
- Severity of Illness Index
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