Severe Infectious Mononucleosis-like Syndrome and Primary Human Herpesvirus 6 Infection in an Adult

Abstract

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) was first isolated from patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or lymphoproliferative diseases and was named human B-lymphotropic virus¹. However, later studies revealed that the virus is T-lymphotropic in vitro² and in vivo³. Recently, two genotypes of HHV-6 (type A and type B) have been distinguished on the basis of their restriction polymorphism^4-6. HHV-6 has been identified as the etiologic agent of exanthem subitum in infants,⁷ and an acute febrile illness in young children⁸. Most people are seropositive for HHV-6 by the age of three years^9,10.