HHV-6, HHV-7 and HHV-8 in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and HHV-7 are lymphotropic β-herpesviruses that infect the majority of humans during the first few years of life. Primary HHV-6 and HHV-7 infections may be asymptomatic or manifest clinically as febrile illness associated with rash, diarrhea, respiratory symptoms, or seizures (1,2). HHV-6 exists as two variants; HHV-6A and HHV-6B. The latter variant is responsible for the majority of documented primary infections in children (1) and reactivation events after transplantation (3).