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Outbreaks of human-herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) infection in day-care centers in Belém, Pará, Brazil.
- Source :
-
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo [Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo] 2000 Nov-Dec; Vol. 42 (6), pp. 305-11. - Publication Year :
- 2000
-
Abstract
- A total of 730 children aged less than 7 years, attending 8 day-care centers (DCCs) in Belém, Brazil were followed-up from January to December 1997 to investigate the occurrence of human-herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) infection in these institutional settings. Between October and December 1997 there have been outbreaks of a febrile- and -exanthematous disease, affecting at least 15-20% of children in each of the DCCs. Both serum- and- plasma samples were obtained from 401 (55%) of the 730 participating children for the detection of HHV-6 antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and viral DNA amplification through the nested-PCR. Recent HHV-6 infection was diagnosed in 63.8% (256/401) of them, as defined by the presence of both IgM and IgG-specific antibodies (IgM+/IgG+); of these, 114 (44.5%) were symptomatic and 142 (55.5%) had no symptoms (p = 0.03). A subgroup of 123 (30.7%) children were found to be IgM-/IgG+, whereas the remaining 22 (5.5%) children had neither IgM nor IgG HHV-6- antibodies (IgM-/IgG-). Of the 118 children reacting strongly IgM-positive (> or = 30 PANBIO units), 26 (22.0%) were found to harbour the HHV-6 DNA, as demonstrated by nested-PCR. Taken the ELISA-IgM- and- nested PCR-positive results together, HHV-6 infection was shown to have occurred in 5 of the 8 DCCs under follow-up. Serological evidence of recent infections by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and parvovirus B19 were identified in 2.0% (8/401) and 1. 5% (6/401) of the children, respectively. Our data provide strong evidence that HHV-6 is a common cause of outbreaks of febrile/exanthematous diseases among children attending DCCs in the Belém area.
- Subjects :
- Brazil epidemiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Exanthema Subitum diagnosis
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Infant
Male
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Child Day Care Centers statistics & numerical data
Disease Outbreaks statistics & numerical data
Exanthema Subitum epidemiology
Herpesvirus 6, Human
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0036-4665
- Volume :
- 42
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 11136516
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1590/s0036-46652000000600002