Human herpes virus type 7 DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with central nervous system diseases

Human herpes virus type 7 (HHV-7) has been associated with unspecific febri le syndrome, exanthem subitum (ES), viral rashes and Epstein-Barr virus (EB V) like syndrome. Neurological complications such as hemiplegia or seizures have been described in a few children with ES. Whether HHV-7 may also affe ct the CNS in the absence of ES is unknown. In this study, we investigated CSF samples from children with different neurological diseases for the pres ence of HHV-7 specific DNA. A HHV-7 specific nested polymerase chain reacti on (PCR) was established amplifying a 478 bp DNA sequence of the glycoprote in U23 of HHV-7 strain SE. 68 children with CNS diseases with inflammatory CSF findings (n = 24), CNS diseases without inflammatory CSF findings (n = 18) and febrile seizures (n = 26) were examined. A total of 26 children wit h infectious diseases in the absence of neurological disease and 11 childre n without signs of a peripheral infection and without neurological disease served as controls. The CSF samples of six children from the study groups w ere HHV-7 PCR positive, but none from the controls. These children were dia gnosed with aseptic meningitis (n = 1), viral encephalitis/meningoencephali tis (n = 2), facial palsy (n = 1), vestibular neuritis (n = 1) and febrile seizure (n = 1). Conclusion These results indicate that human herpes virus type 7 infection is associated with central nervous system disease in children and should be considered in children whether inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid is present or not.