HUMAN HERPESVIRUS-6 - NEUROLOGIC IMPLICATIONS OF A NEWLY-DESCRIBED VIRAL PATHOGEN

Discovered only 12 years ago, human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) has been ass ociated with central nervous system (CNS) findings such as febrile sei zures, encephalitis, meningitis, and possibly multiple sclerosis, Thes e manifestations have been reported in both immunocompetent and immuno compromised individuals. The applications of such sophisticated labora tory tools as polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, immuno histochemical staining, and representational difference analysis have expanded knowledge of the spectrum of CNS disease attributable to HHV- 6 while delineating pathogenic mechanisms of both primary HHV-6 infect ion and reactivation from latency. This article reviews existing knowl edge of the CNS manifestations of HHV-6, focusing on both clinical asp ects of HHV-6 infection and its pathogenesis on neurologic diseases.